I  Sws! 


i  Hi 

illtifi: 


OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY 

OF 


SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF 
SLAVERY; 


OR, 


THREE  MONTHS  AT  THE  SOUTH, 

IN    1854. 


BY 


NEHEMIAH  ADAMS,  D.  D. 


BOSTON: 
PUBLISHED     BY     T.    R.    MARVIN, 

AND 

B  .    B  .    M  U  S  S  E  Y     &     CO. 
1854. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1854,  by 

T.    R.    MARVIN, 
In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  District  of  Massachusetts 


E 


INTRODUCTORY  STATEMENT. 


SOME  things  in  the  history  of  this  book  afford  an  illus 
tration  of  the  undesirableness  of  answering  a  matter  before 
we  hear  it.  A  preliminary  correspondence  of  mine  with 
a  southern  gentleman  has  brought  forth  a  singular  com 
bination  of  feelings  and  expressions,  all  founded  on  a 
mistake ;  which  is,  that  the  writer  of  this  book  sought  to 
conciliate  a  slaveholder  with  the  proposition  of  a  compro 
mise  between  the  north  and  south,  by  which  northern 
opposition  to  slavery  should  be  diverted  and  allayed.  A 
plain  statement  may  remove  disagreeable  feelings  and 
apprehensions. 

Much  of  this  book  was  written  at  the  south.  On  com 
pleting  it  at  home,  the  writer  wished  to  fortify  himself  in 
certain  statements,  and  therefore  wrote  letters,  writh  differ 
ent  sets  of  questions,  to  different  gentlemen  at  the  south, 
but  with  no  intention  to  publish  their  answers.  One  of 
these  gentlemen  was  Hon.  H.  A.  Wise,  of  Virginia.  That 
he,  in  his  way,  as  the  writer  well  knew,  is  a  representative 
man  on  the  subject  of  slavery,  none  will  now  dispute.  I 
approached  him  fairly  and  honorably.  I  disclosed  my  ob 
ject  so  far  as  was  necessary  to  secure  his  attention,  and  I 
gained  the  purpose  for  which  I  wrote ;  so  that  on  reading 
his  letter  in  manuscript,  and  seeing  that  it  confirmed  the 
statements  which  I  had  written  for  my  book.  I  acknowl 
edged  the  favor  in  a  note  of  thanks.  The  letter,  read  iu 
private,  did  not  offend  me,  because  I  saw  that  the  writer 
was  not  combating  me  personally ;  and  I  thought  of  it 

(3) 


IV  INTRODUCTORY  STATEMENT. 

only  in  one  light,  —  viz.,  as  making  it  unnecessary  for  me 
to  correct  my  manuscript,  which  was  nearly  ready  for  the 
press.  When  the  correspondence  afterward  came  forth 
from  Mr.  W..  without  my  consent,  in  the  Washington  (D. 
C.)  Union,  his  letter  had  a  different  bearing.  I  was  placed 
in  a  new  relation  toward  him,  and  was  sorry  that  he  com 
pelled  me  to  speak  to  him  as  I  did  in  my  reply. 

And  now  this  book  is  the  development  of  my  wishes  and 
purposes  so  imperfectly  expressed  in  my  private  letter  to 
Mr.  Wise.  The  book  stands  just  as  it  did  when  I  wrote 
that  letter.  I  am  not  responsible  for  any  expectations  or 
disappointments  \vith  regard  to  this  book  occasioned  by  a 
letter  which  I  did  not  write  for  publication,  and  never  in 
tended  as  a  description  of  this  volume.  The  book  has 
been  finished  according  to  its  first  design. 

As  some  have  held  forth  Mr.  Wise's  letter  as  a  true  ex 
ponent  of  a  slaveholder's  spirit,  it  is  due  from  me  to  say 
that,  with  that  letter,  I  received  other  communications  from 
southern  gentlemen  on  the  same  subject.  Answers  to  in 
quiries,  so  obliging,  so  regardful  of  the  supposed  difficulty 
which  suggested  a  question,  so  generous  in  affording  in 
formation,  so  candid.  I  have  seldom  known.  Any  who 
wish,  may  argue  from  them  that  the  effect  of  slaveholding 
upon  a  gentleman's  spirit  and  manner  is  eminently 
happy. 

A  counterpart  to  Mr.  Wise's  letter  appeared  in  the  New 
York  Independent  of  October  12,  in  an  article  on  my  cor 
respondence  with  Mr.  W.  If  the  writer  had  waited  for 
correct  knowledge  of  the  facts  in  the  case,  he  might  have 
written  more  discreetly.  When  I  first  heard  of  the  piece, 
the  whole  of  this  book  was  in  type. 

Watching  in  a  sick  room  far  from  home,  new  affections 
are  awakened  toward  our  fellow-men ;  sectional  feelings 
are  diminished ;  and  every  subject,  public  as  well  as  pri 
vate,  is  viewed  in  connection  with  our  higher  and  enduring 
interests  and  relations.  Under  such  influences  many  of 
these  pages  were  written,  some  of  them  containing  stric- 


INTRODUCTORY    STATEMENT.  V 

tares  which,  in  a  chastened  state  of  mind,  one  can  make 
with  the  consciousness  of  being  actuated  only  by  good 
motives. 

The  thought  of  writing  a  book  on  this  subject  never 
occurred  to  me  till  I  had  experienced  much  surprise  and 
pleasure  at  certain  new  impressions  from  slavery  at  the 
south.  They  who  think  that  these  impressions  were  owing 
to  partial  views  of  American  slavery  will  see  their  mis 
take.  Should  I  relieve  the  minds  of  a  few  friends  on  this 
subject,  as  mine  has  been  relieved,  my  labor  will  not  be 
lost.  But  it  is  proper  to  say,  that  while  preparing  these 
pages,  from  the  beginning  to  the  close,  things  have  come 
to  my  knowledge  with  regard  to  slavery  which  took  away, 
at  the  time,  the  power  to  think  or  speak  of  it  except  in  the 
tone  of  reprobation.  Feelings  more  discriminating  and 
no  less  just  have  alternated  with  these,  and  the  result  is 
here  given. 

No  one  can  expect  to  find,  nor  do  I  think  to  give,  in 
this  book,  a  full  exposition  of  llie  subject  of  slavery.  Yet 
I  trust  it  will  be  seen  that  I  have  gathered  premises  broad 
enough  for  all  the  conclusions  which  I  have  ventured  to 
draw. 

Now,  if  any  friend  of  mine,  who.  knowing  me.  knows 
that  I  am  no  partisan,  will  intrust  himself  to  my  guidance, 
I  will  take  him  with  me  in  this  book  to  the  south,  and  we 
will  together  look  at  the  things  which  happen  to  meet  us, 
receive  the  impressions  which  they  may  naturally  make, 
and  if  we  dill'er  and  part  company,  we  will  endeavor  to  do 
so  with  mutual  respect  and  aflection. 


SOUTH-SIDE  VIEW  OF  SLAVERY. 


CHAPTER    I. 

FEELINGS   AND    EXPECTATIONS   ON   GOING  TO   THE 
SOUTH. 

IT  was  well  said  by  Rev.  John  Newton,  of  London, 
that  Job  and  his  friends  might  have  continued  their  dis 
pute  to  the  present  time,  if  they  had  lived  so  long,  unless 
God  had  interposed  to  settle  the  controversy. 

Good  men,  conscientiously  persuaded  of  the  truth  and 
importance  of  their  respective  partial  views  of  a  great 
subject,  pleading  for  God,  and  therefore  convinced,  each 
of  them,  that  the  Most  High  is  on  his  side,  cannot  yield 
one  to  the  other  without  doing  violence  to  their  con 
sciences. 

Some  new  development,  some  providential  disclosure, 
must  be  made  to  withdraw  their  thoughts  from  the 
issue  which,  they  insist,  is  the  only  one  of  which  the  sub 
ject  is  capable  ;  otherwise,  that  which  was  mere  contra 
riety  of  opinion  grows  to  alienation  and  strife,  of  which 
no  one  sees  the  end. 

He  who  proposes  to  write  or  speak  at  the  present 
time  on  the  subject  which  has  so  long  tried  the  patience 
of  good  men  as  the  subject  of  slavery  has  done,  is  justi- 

(7) 


8  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

fied  in  asking  attention  only  by  the  conviction  which  it 
is  supposed  he  feels  that  he  can  afford  some  help. 

The  writer  has  lately  spent  three  months  at  the  south 
for  the  health  of  an  invalid.  Few  professional  men  at 
the  north  had  less  connection  with  the  south  by  ties  of 
any  kind  than  he,  when  the  providence  of  God  made  it 
necessary  to  become  for  a  while  a  stranger  in  a  strange 
land.  lie  was  too  much  absorbed  by  private  circum 
stances  to  think  of  entering  at  all  into  a  deliberate  con 
sideration  of  any  important  subject  of  a  public  nature  ; 
yet  for  this  very  reason,  perhaps,  the  mind  was  better 
prepared  to  receive  dispassionately  the  impressions  which 
were  to  be  made  upon  it.  The  impressions  thus  made, 
and  the  reflections  which  spontaneously  arose,  the  writer 
here  submits,  not  as  a  partisan,  but  as  a  Christian ;  not 
as  a  northerner,  but  as  an  American  ;  not  as  a  politician, 
but  as  a  lover  and  friend  of  the  colored  race.  Having 
unexpectedly  experienced  help  and  relief  in  some  de 
gree  in  contemplating  the  subject,  perhaps  others  may 
be  assisted  by  noticing  the  process  through  which  it  was 
derived.  To  give  information  about  slavery,  to  depict 
scenes  at  the  south,  to  add  any  thing  to  the  almost  num 
berless  discussions  of  the  subject,  is  not  the  object  of 
this  book. 

I  will  relate  the  impressions  and  expectations  with 
which  I  went  to  the  south ;  the  manner  in  which  things 
appeared  to  me  in  connection  with  slavery  in  Georgia, 
South  Carolina,  and  Virginia ;  the  correction  or  confir 
mation  of  my  northern  opinions  and  feelings  ;  the  conclu 
sions  to  which  I  was  led  ;  the  way  in  which  our  language 
and  whole  manner  toward  the  south  have  impressed  me  ; 
and  the  duty  which  it  seems  to  me,  as  members  of  the 
Union,  we  at  the  north  owe  to  the  subject  of  slavery  and 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  9 

to  the  south,  and  with  the  south  to  the  colored  race.  I 
shall  not  draw  upon  fictitious  scenes  and  feelings,  but 
shall  give  such  statements  as  I  would  desire  to  receive 
from  a  friend  to  whom  I  should  put  the  question,  "  What 
am  I  to  believe  ?  How  am  I  to  feel  and  act  ?  " 

In  the  few  instances  in  which  I  do  not  speak  from 
personal  observation,  I  shall  quote  from  men  whom,  in 
many  places  at  home  and  abroad,  I  have  learned  to  re 
spect  very  highly  for  their  intellectual,  moral,  and  social 
qualities  —  I  mean  physicians.  Associated  with  all 
classes  at  all  times,  knowing  things  not  generally  ob 
served,  and  being  removed  by  their  profession  from  any 
extensive  connection  with  slavery  as  a  means  of  wealth, 
they  have  seemed  to  me  unusually  qualified  to  testify  on 
the  subject,  and  their  opinions  I  have  found  to  be  emi 
nently  just  and  fair. 

Very  early  in  my  visit  at  the  south,  agreeable  im 
pressions  were  made  upon  me,  which  soon  began  to  be 
interspersed  with  impressions  of  a  different  kind  in  look 
ing  at  slavery.  The  reader  will  bear  this  in  mind,  and 
not  suppose,  at  any  one  point  in  the  narrative,  that  I  am 
giving  results  not  to  be  qualified  by  subsequent  state 
ments.  The  feelings  awakened  by  each  new  disclosure 
or  train  of  reflection  are  stated  without  waiting  for  any 
thing  which  may  follow. 


JUST  before  leaving  home,  several  things  had  prepared 
me  to  feel  a  special  interest  in  going  to  the  south. 

The  last  thing  which  I  did  out  of  doors  before  leaving 
Boston  was,  to  sign  the  remonstrance  of  the  New  England 
clergymen  against  the  extension  of  slavery  into  the 


10  A    SOUTH-SIDE   VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

contemplated  territories  of  Nebraska  and  Kansas.  I  had 
assisted  in  framing  that  remonstrance.  The  last  thing 
which  I  happened  to  do  late  at  night  before  I  began  my 
journey  was,  to  provide  something  for  a  freed  slave  on 
his  way  to  Liberia,  who  was  endeavoring  to  raise  several 
thousand  dollars  to  redeem  his  wife  and  children  from 
bondage.  My  conversations  relating  to  this  slave  and 
his  family  had  filled  nie  with  new  but  by  no  means 
strange  distress,  and  the  thought  of  looking  slavery  in 
the  face,  of  seeing  the  things  which  had  so  frequently 
disturbed  my  self-possession,  was  by  no  means  pleasant. 
To  the  anticipation  of  all  the  afflictive  sights  which  I 
should  behold  there  was  added  the  old  despair  of  seeing 
any  way  of  relieving  this  fearful  evil,  while  the  unavail 
ing  desire  to  find  it,  excited  by  the  actual  sight  of  wrongs 
and  woe,  I  feared  would  make  my  residence  at  the  south 
painful. 

Behind  the  tables  at  the  hotel  in  New  York,  on  my 
way  south,  stood  a  row  of  black  wraiters  —  no  unusual 
sight  to  me,  indeed  ;  but  with  my  thoughts  of  the  south 
and  the  slaves,  it  assumed  new  interest.  I  connected 
them  in  my  thoughts  with  the  slaves.  They  seemed 
like  straggling  cinders  at  no  great  distance  from  the 
burning  house  which  I  was  about  to  see.  New  sym 
pathy  for  the  slave  was  excited  by  their  visages.  If 
these  who  are  free  wear  such  dreary  looks  as  my  own 
thoughts  imparted  to  them,  how  fearful  must  be  the 
faces  of  the  bondmen  !  I  felt  that  I  was  in  the  entrance 
way  to  the  home  of  a  race  who  would  excite  in  me  only 
sorrow. 

On  board  the  steamship  from  New  York  to  Savannah, 
white  faces  took  the  place  of  the  black  complexion  which 
had  become  identified  with  serving  men.  We  belong 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  11 

to  a  slave  State,  was  the  obvious  reason  given  for  tliis 
substitution.  Free  negroes  could  not  be  received  at  the 
southern  port;  slaves  belonging  to  the  steamer  could 
not  be  trusted  at  New  York  ;  hence  those  white  servants, 
whose  faces,  to  an  eye  which  retained  the  recent  im 
pression  of  shining  black  skin,  looked  paler  than  ever. 

We  had  been  three  days  in  a  southern  steamer,  and 
had  sailed  by  Delaware,  Maryland,  Virginia,  North  and 
South  Carolina,  and  had  seen  no  slave.  The  sight  was 
yet  in  reserve  ;  curiosity,  sympathy,  pity,  the  whole  as 
semblage  of  northern  fancies  and  feelings  which  gather 
together  at  the  mention  of  a  slave,  were  "  all  hands  on 
deck"  as  we  entered  Savannah  River.  Climate  now 
ceased  to  be  the  only  object  of  interest  connected  with 
the  south.  There  lay  the  rice  plantations  ;  but  where 
were  the  slaves  ?  Some  feeling  of  dread  was  mingled 
with  curiosity.  Cowper's  lines,  learned  and  declaimed 
so  often  in  boyhood,  came  to  mind  :  — 

"  O  for  a  lodge  in  some  vast  wilderness,"  £c., 

"  I  would  not  have  a  slave  to  till  my  ground,"  &c., 

with  the  poet's  enumeration  of  cruelties  and  horrors. 
The  anticipation  of  hearing  those  groans  which  three 
millions  of  our  fellow-countrymen  are  represented  in 
our  Fourth  of  July  orations,  and  which  I  had  myself  in 
such  an  oration  many  years  ago  represented,  as  sending 
up  to  Heaven  day  and  night,  and  the  clanking  of  those 
chains  which  on  such  occasions  are  said  to  be  mingling 
with  John  Adams's  category  of  joyful  noises  forever  to 
usher  in  the  nation's  birthday,  and  the  confident  expec 
tation  of  seeing  at  the  landing,  or  in  passing  through  the 
market-place,  a  figure  like  the  common  touching  vignette 


12  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW   OF    SLAVERY. 

of  a  naked  negro  on  one  knee,  with  manacled  hands 
raised  imploringly  and  saying,  "  Am  I  not  a  man  and 
brother  ?  "  had  made  the  thought  of  reaching  the  south 
increasingly  painful. 

"  So  you  are  going  south,"  said  a  good  friend  in  Bos 
ton.  "  Well,"  he  continued,  "  you  will,  I  suppose,  have 
your  feelings  of  humanity  strongly  appealed  to  many 
a  time."  I  felt  afraid  to  trust  myself  in  scenes  such  as 
I  had  heard  described ;  yet,  as  we  came  near  Savannah, 
there  was  a  natural  impatience  to  see  and  feel  the  dire 
ful  object  of  so  much  anticipation. 

Within  five  miles  of  Savannah  the  steamer  ran 
aground,  in  the  early  fog  of  a  warm  day ;  and  as  the  tide 
was  ebbing,  there  seemed  to  be  for  the  time  no  relief, 
except  as  the  agents  in  the  city  might  learn  our  situa 
tion  through  their  spyglasses,  or  a  passing  boat  report 
us.  The  Florida  steamer  came  alongside,  took  off 
some  passengers  for  Florida,  and  left  us  with  our  paddle 
wheels  out  of  water,  and  not  even  a  slave  to  pity  and 
help  us,  and  to  be  an  object  of  pity,  from  me  at  least,  in 
return. 

A  steam  tug  returning  from  the  mouth  of  the  river 
came  alongside  about  noon,  and  took  the  passengers  and 
their  baggage  to  the  city. 

On  board  this  tug  I  looked  for  the  first  time  in  my 
life  upon  a  slave.  All  hands  on  board  were  slaves. 
As  the  boat  labored  up  the  stream,  I  had  leisure  to  in 
dulge  my  eyes  and  thoughts  in  looking  at  them.  Two, 
with  unquestionable  marks  of  servitude  in  their  whole 
appearance,  were  talking  together  in  the  stern  of  the 
boat,  the  broad  brims  of  their  old  black  hats  flapping  in 
the  wind  over  their  faces,  hiding  partly  the  glances 
which  they  gave  me  as  they  noticed  my  interested  looks 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  13 

at  them.  One  of  them  whispered  covertly  to  the  other, 
and  both  smiled  with  a  kindly  look.  It  was  a  different 
look  from  that  which  you  receive  in  a  prison  yard,  where 
shame  and  pain  steal  out  in  quick,  uneasy  glances.  I 
felt  impelled  to  speak  with  them,  but  was  not  yet  suffi 
ciently  at  home. 

In  the  growth  of  the  human  mind,  fancy  takes  the 
lead  of  observation,  and  through  life  it  is  always  run 
ning  ahead  of  it.  Who  has  not  been  greatly  amused, 
sometimes  provoked,  and  sometimes,  perhaps,  been 
made  an  object  of  mirth,  at  the  preconceived  notions 
which  he  had  formed  of  an  individual,  or  place,  or  com 
ing  event  ?  Who  has  not  sometimes  prudently  kept  his 
fancies  to  himself?  Taking  four  hundred  ministers  of 
my  denomination  in  Massachusetts,  and  knowing  how 
we  all  converse,  and  preach,  and  pray  about  slavery,  and 
noticing  since  my  return  from  the  south  the  questions 
which  are  put,  and  the  remarks  which  are  made  upon 
the  answers,  it  will  be  safe  to  assert  that  on  going  south 
I  had  at  least  the  average  amount  of  information  and 
ignorance  with  regard  to  the  subject.  Some  may  affect 
to  wonder  even  at  the  little  which  has  now  been  dis 
closed  of  my  secret  fancies.  I  should  have  done  the 
same  in  the  case  of  another ;  for  the  credulity  or  sim 
plicity  of  a  friend,  when  expressed  or  exposed,  generally 
raises  self-satisfied  feelings  in  the  most  of  us.  Oar 
southern  friends,  on  first  witnessing  our  snow  storms, 
sleigh  rides,  and  the  gathering  of  our  ice  crops,  are  full 
as  simple  as  we  are  in  a  first  visit  among  them.  We 
"suffer  fools  gladly,  seeing"  that  we  ourselves  "are  wise." 
Some  intelligent  men  at  the  south,  who  have  never  seen 
Lowell,  will  speak  of  our  "  operatives  "  in  a  way  to  ex 
cite  quite  as  much  mirth  as  their  northern  visitors  occa- 


14  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

sion.     We  both  need  forbearance  and  charity  one  from 
the  other. 

How  to  say  enough  of  preconceived  notions  respect 
ing  slavery,  so  as  to  compare  subsequent  impressions 
with  them,  and  yet  not  enough  to  give  southern  friends 
room  to  exult  and  say  that  we  all  have  false  and  exag 
gerated  notions  about  slavery,  is  somewhat  difficult.  At 
the  risk  of  disagreeable  imputations,  and  with  a  desire 
to  be  honest  and  ingenuous,  I  will  merely  add,  that  there 
was  one  thing  which  I  felt  sure  that  I  should  see  on 
landing,  viz.,  the  whole  black  population  cowed  down. 
This  best  expresses  in  a  word  my  expectation.  "  I  am  a 
slave,"  will  be  indented  on  the  faces,  limbs,  and  actions 
of  the  bondmen.  Hopeless  woe,  entreating  yet  despair 
ing,  will  frequently  greet  me.  How  could  it  be  other 
wise,  if  slavery  be  such  as  our  books,  and  sermons,  and 
lectures,  and  newspaper  articles  represent?  nay,  if 
southern  papers  themselves,  especially  their  advertise 
ments,  are  to  be  relied  upon  as  sources  of  correct  im 
pressions  ? 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  15 


CHAPTER    II. 

ARRIVAL  AND  FIRST   IMPRESSIONS. 

THE  steam  tug  reached  the  landing,  and  the  slaves 
were  all  about  us.  One  thing  immediately  surprised 
me ;  they  were  all  in  good  humor,  and  some  of  them  in 
a  broad  laugh.  The  delivery  of  every  trunk  from  the 
tug  to  the  wharf  was  the  occasion  of  some  hit,  or  rep 
artee,  and  every  burden  was  borne  with  a  jolly  word, 
grimace,  or  motion.  The  lifting  of  one  leg  in  laughing 
seemed  as  natural  as  a  Frenchman's  shrug.  I  asked  one 
of  them  to  place  a  trunk  with  a  lot  of  baggage ;  it  was 
done;  up  went  the  hand  to  the  hat  —  "Any  thing  more, 
please  sir?"  What  a  contrast,  I  involuntarily  said  to 
myself,  to  that  troop  at  the  Albany  landing  on  our  West 
ern  Railroad !  and  on  those  piles  of  boards,  and  on  the 
roofs  of  the  sheds,  and  at  the  piers,  in  New  York  !  I 
began  to  like  these  slaves.  I  began  to  laugh  with  them. 
It  was  irresistible.  Who  could  have  convinced  me,  an 
hour  before,  that  slaves  could  have  any  other  effect  upon 
me  than  to  make  me  feel  sad  ?  One  fellow,  in  all  the 
hurry  and  bustle  of  landing  us,  could  not  help  relating 
how,  in  jumping  on  board,  his  boot  was  caught  between 
two  planks,  and  "  pulled  clean  off ;  "  and  how  "  dis  ole 
feller  went  clean  over  into  de  wotter,"  with  a  shout,  as 
though  it  was  a  merry  adventure. 

One  thing  seemed  clear;  they  were  not  so  much 
2 


16  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

cowed  down  as  I  expected.  Perhaps,  however,  they 
were  a  fortunate  set.  I  rode  away,  expecting  soon  to 
have  some  of  my  disagreeable  anticipations  verified. 

In  pursuance  of  the  plan  indicated  in  the  beginning, 
I  shall  now  relate  the  impressions  which  were  invol 
untarily  made  upon  me  while  residing  in  some  of  the 
slave  States.  As  before  mentioned,  I  was  making  no 
deliberate  investigations,  and  had  no  theory  to  maintain  ; 
but  the  things  which  daily  passed  before  me  led  to 
reflections  and  conclusions,  which  will  appear,  some  of 
them,  as  we  proceed,  but  more  especially  in  the  review. 
Should  these  pages  meet  the  eyes  of  any  to  whom  the 
things  here  described  are  perfectly  familiar,  they  will 
read  them  Avith  forbearance,  and  remember  that  the 
writer's  object  is  not  to  give  descriptions,  but  just  to 
relate  those  things  which  led  him  to  certain  reflections 
and  conclusions  ;  these  conclusions  alone,  so  far  as  they 
may  be  useful,  constituting  the  purpose  of  the  book. 

All  things  being  arranged  at  your  resting-place,  the 
first  impulse  is  to  see  how  the  land  lies,  settle  certain 
landmarks,  and,  above  all  things,  find  the  post-office. 

The  city  of  Savannah  abounds  in  parks,  as  they  are 
called  —  squares,  fenced  in,  with  trees.  Young  children 
and  infants  were  there,  with  very  respectable  colored 
nurses  —  young  women,  with  bandanna  and  plaid  cam 
bric  turbans,  and  superior  in  genteel  appearance  to  any 
similar  class,  as  a  whole,  in  any  of  our  cities.  They 
could  not  be  slaves.  Are  they  slaves  ?  "  Certainly," 
says  the  friend  at  your  side ;  "  they  each  belong  to  some 
master  or  mistress." 

In  behalf  of  a  score  of  mothers  of  my  acquaintance, 
and  of  some  fathers,  I  looked  with  covetous  feelings 
upon  the  relation  which  I  saw  existed  between  these 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW   OF    SLAVERY.  17 

nurses  and  children.  These  women  seemed  not  to  have 
the  air  and  manner  of  hirelings  in  the  care  and  treat 
ment  of  the  children ;  their  conversation  with  them,  the 
degree  of  seemingly  maternal  feeling  which  was  infused 
into  their  whole  deportment,  could  not  fail  to  strike  a 
casual  observer. 

Then  these  are  slaves.  Their  care  of  the  children, 
even  if  it  be  slave  labor,  is  certainly  equal  to  that 
which  is  free. 

"  But  that  was  a  freeman  who  just  passed  us  ?  " 

"  No ;  he  is  Mr.  W.'s  servant,  near  us." 

"  He  a  slave  ?  "  Such  a  rhetorical  lifting  of  the  arm, 
such  a  line  of  grace  as  the  hand  described  in  descending 
easily  from  the  hat  to  the  side,  such  a  glow  of  good  feel 
ing  on  recognizing  neighbor  B.,  with  a  supplementary 
act  of  respect  to  the  stranger  with  him,  were  wholly 
foreign  from  my  notions  of  a  slave.  "  Where  are  your 
real  slaves,  such  as  we  read  of?" 

"  These  are  about  a  fair  sample." 

"  But  they  seem  to  me  like  your  best  quotations  of 
cotton ;  where  are  your  '  ord.,  mid.  fair  to  fair,  dam 
aged,  and  poor'?" 

Our  fancies  with  regard  to  the  condition  of  the  slaves* 
proceed  from  our  northern  repugnance  to  slavery,  stim 
ulated  by  many  things  that  we  read.  The  every-day 
life,  the  whole  picture  of  society  at  the  south,  is  not  pre 
sented  to  us  so  frequently  —  indeed  it  cannot  be,  nor  can 
it  strike  the  mind  as  strongly  —  as  slave  auctions  and  sep 
arations  of  families,  fugitives  hiding  in  dismal  swamps, 
and  other  things  which  appeal  to  our  sensibilities. 
Whatever  else  may  be  true  of  slavery,  these  things,  we 
say,  are  indisputable  ;  and  they  furnish  materials  for  the 
fancy  to  build  into  a  world  of  woe* 


18  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

Without  supposing  that  I  had  yet  seen  slavery,  it 
was  nevertheless  true  that  a  load  was  lifted  from  rny 
mind  by  the  first  superficial  look  at  the  slaves  in  the 
city. 

It  was  as  though  I  had  been  let  down  by  necessity 
into  a  cavern  which  I  had  peopled  with  disagreeable 
sights,  and,  on  reaching  bottom,  found  daylight  streaming 
in,  and  the  place  cheerful. 

A  better-looking,  happier,  more  courteous  set  of  peo 
ple  I  had  never  seen,  than  those  colored  men,  women, 
and  children  whom  I  met  the  first  few  days  of  my  stay 
in  Savannah.  It  had  a  singular  effect  on  my  spirits. 
They  all  seemed  glad  to  see  me.  I  was  tempted  with 
some  vain  feelings,  as  though  they  meant  to  pay  me 
some  special  respect.  It  was  all  the  more  grateful, 
because  for  months  sickness  and  death  had  covered 
almost  every  thing,  even  the  faces  of  friends  at  home, 
with  sadness  to  my  eye,  and  my  spirits  had  drooped. 
But  to  be  met  and  accosted  with  such  extremely  civil, 
benevolent  looks,  to  see  so  many  faces  break  into  pleas 
ant  smiles  in  going  by,  made  one  feel  that  he  was  not 
alone  in  the  world,  even  in  a  land  of  strangers. 

How  such  unaffected  politeness  could  have  been 
learned  under  the  lash  I  did  not  understand.  It  con 
flicted  with  my  notions  of  slavery.  I  could  not  have 
dreamed  that  these  people  had  been  "  down  trodden," 
"  their  very  manhood  crushed  out  of  them,"  "  the  galling 
yoke  of  slavery  breaking  every  human  feeling,  and  re 
ducing  them  to  the  level  of  brutes."  It  was  one  of  the 
pleasures  of  taking  a  walk  to  be  greeted  by  all  my 
colored  friends.  I  felt  that  I  had  taken  a  whole  new 
race  of  my  fellow-men  by  the  hand.  I  took  care  to 
notice  each  of  them,  and  get  his  full  smile  and  saluta- 


A    SOUTH-SIDE   VIEW    OP   SLAVERY.  19 

tion ;  many  a  time  I  would  gladly  have  stopped  and 
paid  a  good  price  for  a  certain  "  good  morning,"  cour 
tesy,  and  bow ;  it  was  worth  more  than  gold  ;  its  charm 
consisted  in  its  being  unbought,  unconstrained,  for  I  was 
an  entire  stranger.  Timidity,  a  feeling  of  necessity, 
the  leer  of  obliged  deference,  I  nowhere  saw ;  but  the 
artless,  free,  and  easy  manner  which  burdened  spirits 
never  wear.  It  was  difficult  to  pass  the  colored  people 
in  the  streets  without  a  smile  awakened  by  the  magnet 
ism  of  their  smiles.  Let  any  one  at  the  north,  afflicted 
with  depression  of  spirits,  drop  down  among  these  ne 
groes,  walk  these  streets,  form  a  passing  acquaintance 
with  some  of  them,  and  unless  he  is  a  hopeless  case,  he 
will  find  himself  in  moods  of  cheerfulness  never  awak 
ened  surely  by  the  countenances  of  the  whites  in  any 
strange  place.  Involuntary  servitude  did  not  present 
itself  to  my  eye  or  thoughts  during  the  two  weeks  which 
I  spent  in  Savannah,  except  as  I  read  advertisements 
in  the  papers  of  slaves  for  sale. 

How  the  appearance  of  the  colored  people  in  villages 
and  plantation  districts  would  compare  with  that  of  city 
household  servants,  was  a  question  which  was  reserved 
for  future  observation. 


20  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW   OF    SLAVERY. 


CHAPTER    III. 

NEW  VIEWS  OF  THE  RELATIONS  OF  THE  SLAVES. 

THE  gentleman  at  whose  house  I  was  guest  com 
manded  the  military  battalion.  The  parade  day  oc 
curred  during  my  visit.  Three  bands  came  successively 
within  an  hour  in  the  morning  to  salute  him.  These 
bands  were  composed  of  slaves,  so  called ;  but  never  did 
military  bands  suggest  the  idea  of  involuntary  servitude 
less,  or  feel  servitude  of  any  kind  for  the  time  less,  than 
these  black  warriors.  They  approached  with  their 
quickstep  tunes,  formed  in  front  of  the  dwelling,  faced 
the  street,  (a  respectful  manoeuvre,  unlike  our  salutes, 
which  make  us  all  face  the  music,)  performed  their  sa 
lute,  and  marched  off  in  good  style.  Their  personal 
appearance  was  in  several  instances  very  striking.  One 
of  the  bass  drummers  was  a  fine  specimen  of  the  hu 
man  frame,  his  points  set  off  by  his  tight  military  dress, 
while  a  pair  of  green  periscopic  spectacles  gave  an  addi 
tional  touch  to  his  looks.  There  was  nothing  grotesque 
in  their  appearance,  nothing  corresponding  to  Ethiopic 
minstrelsy  in  our  northern  caricatures;  any  military 
company  at  the  north  would  have  feelings  of  respect  for 
their  looks  and  performances. 

Going  out  with  a  friend  to  see  the  line  formed,  he 
asked  me  to  accept  a  cane  for  the  walk.  On  declining, 
I  was  pressed  to  take  it  by  the  remark  that  I  surely 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  21 

would  if  I  would  read  the  inscription  :  "  From  the  live 
oak  of  the  frigate  Constitution,  presented,"  &c.  What 
had  Georgians  to  do  with  that  frigate,  I  said  to  myself, 
the  frigate  which  was  the  pride  and  boast  of  us  Massa 
chusetts  boys  in  the  war  ? 

The  thought  of  our  family  of  States  came  over  me, 
our  States  like  the  sea,  "  its  waves  many,  its  waters  one," 
each  claiming  the  frigate  Constitution  as  hers,  "gallant 
Hull "  hers,  our  whole  naval  renown  hers.  Cords  of 
love  stronger  than  death  holds  us  together ;  when  the 
attempt  to  break  our  Union  begins  to  draw  upon  these 
secret  bauds,  they  will  be  found  invincible.  Petulant, 
angry  members  of  the  household  will  frequently  threaten, 
like  passionate  children,  to  leave  the  house.  Let  them 
try.  They  will  find  secret  weaknesses  and  childlike  re- 
lentings  interfering  with  their  sturdy  anger,  and  tears 
will  start  unbidden  in  better  moments. 

As  the  line  was  forming  on  "  the  Bay,"  the  tender  of 
a  locomotive  happened  to  be  drawn  along  on  trucks,  be 
tween  the  spectators  and  the  military,  on  its  way  to  the 
railroad  station.  The  name  of  the  engine  and  tender, 
in  large  letters,  on  the  tender,  was  NEW  HAMP 
SHIRE.  My  New  England  feelings  arose  and  glowed 
within  me.  It  was  weak,  perhaps,  to  feel  any  thing  like 
a  tear,  even  of  pleasure ;  but  the  sudden  presentation  of 
a  proud  New  England  name,  the  momentary  commin 
gling  there  in  Georgia  of  north  and  south,  the  kind 
blending  of  Nebraska  and  Anti-Nebraska  in  that  acci 
dental  meeting,  the  easy,  home  feeling  with  which  the 
New  Hampshire  took  the  liberty  to  pass  along  in  the 
midst  of  the  pageant,  and  many  other  similar  thoughts 
and  feelings,  made  me  reflect  what  a  death  it  would  be 
if  our  Union  should  suffer  fratricide  or  suicide. 


22  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

The  commander  of  the  military  on  this  occasion,  though 
still  justly  claiming  to  be  a  young  man,/ led  the  Georgia 
detachment  of  troops  to  our  north-eastern  frontier  during 
our  trouble  respecting  the  boundary  question.  Maine 
and  Georgia  were  the  same  country  to  him.  Should 
the  north  ever  need  Georgia  soldiers  to  battle  against 
a  common  foe,  the  hands  of  one  who  has  no  superior  in 
all  that  constitutes  a  Christian  lady  will,  with  the  old 
southern  patriotism,  tie  his  sash  for  him  as  she  did  on 
that  morning  of  the  parade. 

The  tender  (but  let  no  one  play  upon  the  word  from 
the  ett&  of  the  cumbersome  thing  on  my  feelings)  be 
ing  out  of  the  way,  the  bands  wheeled  into  marching 
order,  and  the  battalion  went  to  the  parade  ground  to 
the  music  of  those  colored  men,  affording  a  northerner 
some  novel  and  pleasant  thoughts.  It  was  one  of  the 
last  things  which  I  had  expected  to  see  —  the  soldiers 
of  the  south  following  the  music  made  by  such  men, 
their  step  enlivened,  their  spirits  cheered  by  them.  It 
was  good  and  pleasant  to  see  them  in  that  unity,  the 
proverbial  love  of  music  in  the  colored  race  being  per 
mitted  to  gratify  itself  in  discoursing  martial  sounds  to 
their  masters. 

"When  I  awoke  the  next  morning,  I  found  that  a  slight 
frost  had  touched  some  of  my  northernmost  fancies 
about  the  slaves.  I  knew  that  I  had  much  yet  to  learn ; 
but  I  had  thus  far  seen  things  which  had  never  been  re 
lated  to  me,  and  I  took  into  my  reckoning  terms  which 
I  had  wholly  neglected  in  trying  to  work  out  at  home 
the  problem  of  human  happiness  at  the  south. 

If  it  be  less  romantic,  it  is  more  instructive,  to  see  the 
fire  department  of  a  southern  city  composed  of  col 
ored  men  in  their  company  uniforms,  parading,  and  in 


A    SOUTH-SIDE   VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  23 

times  of  service  working,  with  all  the  enthusiasm  of 
Philadelphia  or  Boston  firemen.  Thus  it  is  given  to 
the  colored  population  of  some  cities  and  towns  at  the 
south  to  protect  the  dwellings  and  stores  of  the  city 
against  fire  —  the  dwellings  and  property  of  men  who, 
as  slave  owners,  are  regarded  by  many  at  the  north  with 
feelings  of  commiseration,  chiefly  from  being  exposed, 
as  we  imagine,  to  the  insurrectionary  impulses  of  an 
oppressed  people.  To  organize  that  people  into  a  pro 
tective  force,  to  give  them  the  largest  liberty  at  times 
when  general  consternation  and  confusion  would  afford 
them  the  best  opportunities  to  execute  seditionary  and 
murderous  purposes,  certainly  gave  me,  as  a  northerner, 
occasion  to  think  that  whatever  is  true  theoretically,  and 
whatever  else  may  be  practically  true,  witli  regard  to 
slavery,  the  relations  and  feelings  between  the  white 
and  colored  people  at  the  south  were  not  wholly  as  I 
had  imagined  them  to  be.  These  two  instances  of  confi 
dence  and  kindness  gave  me  feelings  of  affection  for 
the  blacks  and  respect  for  their  masters.  Not  a  word 
had  been  said  to  me  about  slavery ;  my  eyes  taught  me 
that  some  practical  things  in  the  system  are  wholly  dif 
ferent  from  my  anticipations.  "  I  saw  it,  and  received 
instruction." 


24  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

FAVORABLE  APPEARANCES    IN  SOUTHERN  SOCIETY 
AND  IN  SLAVERY. 

WHEN  we  find  ourselves  to  have  been  under  wrong 
impressions,  and  begin  to  have  our  notions  corrected,  our 
disposition  is  to  reach  an  opposite  extreme,  and  to  see 
things  in  a  light  whose  glare  is  as  false  as  the  previous 
twilight.  I  resolved  to  watch  my  feelings  in  this  respect, 
and  take  the  true  gauge  of  this  subject. 

SECTION  I.  —  Good  Order. 

The  streets  of  southern  cities  and  towns  immediately 
struck  me  as  being  remarkably  quiet  in  the  evening  and 
at  night. 

"  What  is  the  cause  of  so  much  quiet  ?  "  I  said  to  a 
friend. 

"  Our  colored  people  are  mostly  at  home.  After 
eight  o'clock  they  cannot  be  abroad  without  a  written 
pass,  which  they  must  show  on  being  challenged,  or  go 
to  the  guard  house.  The  master  must  pay  fifty  cents 
for  a  release.  White  policemen  in  cities,  and  in  towns 
patrols  of  white  citizens,  walk  the  streets  at  night." 

Here  I  received  my  first  impression  of  interference 
with  the  personal  liberty  of  the  colored  people.  The 
white  servants,  if  there  be  any,  the  boys,  the  appren- 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  25 

tices,  the  few  Irish,  have  liberty ;  the  colored  men  are 
under  restraint. 

But  though  I  saw  that  this  was  a  feature  of  slavery, 
I  did  not  conclude  that  it  would  be  well  to  dissolve  the 
Union  in  order  to  abolish  it.  Apart  from  the  question 
of  slavery,  it  was  easy  to  see  that  to  keep  such  a  part 
of  the  population  out  of  the  streets  after  a  reasonable 
hour  at  night,  preventing  their  unrestrained,  promiscu 
ous  roving,  is  a  great  protection  to  them,  as  well  as  to 
the  public  peace.  In  attending  evening  worship,  in 
visiting  at  any  hour,  a  written  pass  is  freely  given ;  so 
that,  after  all,  the  bondage  is  theoretical,  but  still  it  is 
bondage.  Is  it  an  illustration,  I  asked  myself,  of  other 
things  in  slavery,  which  are  theoretically  usurpations, 
but  practically  benevolent  ? 

From  the  numbers  in  the  streets,  though  not  great, 
you  would  not  suspect  that  the  blacks  are  restricted  at 
night ;  yet  I  do  not  remember  one  instance  of  rudeness 
or  unsuitable  behavior  among  them  in  any  place.  Around 
the  drinking  saloons  there  were  white  men  and  boys 
whose  appearance  and  behavior  reminded  me  of  "  liberty 
and  pursuit  of  happiness  "  in  similar  places  at  the  north  ; 
but  there  were  no  colored  men  there  :  the  slaves  are 
generally  free  as  to  street  brawls  and  open  drunkenness. 
I  called  to  mind  a  place  at  the  north  whose  streets  every 
evening,  and  especially  on  Sabbath  evenings,  are  a  nui 
sance.  If  that  place  could  enforce  a  law  forbidding  cer 
tain  youths  to  be  in  the  streets  after  a  certain  hour  with 
out  a  pass  from  their  employers,  it  would  do  much  to 
raise  them  to  an  equality  in  good  manners  with  their 
more  respectable  colored  fellow-men  at  the  south.  I 
had  occasion  to  pity  some  white  southerners,  as  they  issued 
late  at  night  from  a  drinking-place,  in  being  deprived  of 


26  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

the  •wholesome  restraint  laid  upon  the  colored  population. 
The  moral  and  religious  character  of  the  colored  people 
at  the  south  owes  very  much  to  this  restraint. 

Putting  aside  for  the  time  all  thoughts  of  slavery,  I 
indulged  myself  in  thinking  and  feeling,  here  is  strong 
government.  It  has  a  tonic,  bracing  effect  upon  one's 
feelings  to  be  in  its  atmosphere ;  and  as  Charles  Lamb 
tells  us  not  to  inquire  too  narrowly  of  every  mendicant 
whether  the  "  wife  and  six  young  children  "  are  a  fiction, 
but  to  give,  and  enjoy  it,  so  there  was  a  temptation  to 
disregard  for  the  time  the  idea  of  slavery,  and,  becom 
ing  a  mere  utilitarian,  to  think  of  three  millions  of  our 
population  as  being  under  perfect  control,  and  in  this 
instance  indisputably  to  their  benefit. 

The  first,  instance  in  which  I  saw  slaves,  men  and 
women,  acting  in  an  associated  capacity,  was  in  a  colored 
choir.  My  object  in  speaking  of  this  will  appear  in 
the  sequel.  Would  that  some  of  my  musical  friends 
could  enjoy  the  performances  of  that  choir  at  that  church. 
A  tall,  stout  negro,  with  an  intelligent  face,  rose  to  sing, 
and  his  choir  stood  up.  He  doubled  back  his  little  hymn 
book  in  one  hand,  and  held  the  singing  book,  doubled 
back  also,  in  the  other,  both  at  arm's  length.  He  put 
one  foot  in  the  chair  where  he  had  been  sitting,  as  though 
for  greater  purchase,  and  then  pitched  the  tune  with 
marked  distinctness,  giving  all  the  parts.  Off  he  started 
with  an  explosive  note  that  waked  up  every  echo,  be 
ginning,  as  directed,  at  the  third  verse,  — 

"  Fools  never  raise  their  thoughts  so  high." 

His  arms,  his  bended  knee,  his  whole  body,  were  instinct 
with  feeling.  He  made,  perhaps,  three  times  as  many 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  27 

notes  as  were  written,  counting  his  slurs,  and  his  division 
of  white-faced  notes  into  the  due  allowance  of  pointed 
ones,  with  other  embellishments,  all  so  exciting  that  the 
short  yellow  girl,  the  principal  alto,  with  round  face  and 
neat  attire,  standing  next  to  him,  feeling  the  windage  of 
his  motions  and  the  interruption  to  the  movement  by 
his  crotchets  and  fancies,  stopped  singing,  shook  with 
an  internal  laugh,  with  an  occasional  heat-lightning  be 
trayal  of  her  beautiful  white  teeth,  which  she  covered 
as  quick  as  possible  to  conceal  her  mirth.  She  showed 
wonderful  self-control,  and  finally  succeeded  in  carrying 
her  part ;  but  at  the  next  singing,  she  and  the  other 
girls  removed  to  the  other  side  of  the  pillar,  which  they 
left  between  themselves  and  the  leader  in  self-defence. 
lie  was  all  the  time  solemn  and  devout ;  his  wish  evi 
dently  being  fulfilled,  that  his  heart,  whatever  might  be 
said  of  his  voice,  might  "  in  tune  be  found."  An  elderly 
negro  with  white  hair,  his  head  thrown  back  ;  an  intensely 
black  man,  of  towering  stature,  in  a  Petersham  coat;  a 
genteel  youth  with  master's  plaid  cassimere  riding  jacket; 
and  a  few  women,  conspired  to  sing  the  hymn  with  an 
effect  deeply  impressive  and  edifying,  however  much 
some  of  the  features  in  the  performance  might  tend  for 
a  moment  to  divert  the  feelings.  No  sooner  was  the 
benediction  pronounced  than,  in  keeping  with  the  custom 
in  some  white  congregations  of  interrupting  the  thoughts 
of  the  retiring  audience  by  boisterous  organ  playing, 
this  choir  started  a  select  piece  :  — 

"  Hark  !  the  vesper  hymn  is  stealing,"  &c. 

It  being  not  much  after  twelve  at  noon,  this  vesper  was 
as  little  appropriate  as  the  organ  playing  just  mentioned, 


28  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

but  was  sanctioned  by  the  practice  of  those  whose  ex 
ample  the  blacks  follow  for  good  or  ill. 

The  impression  here  made  upon  me,  or  rather  con 
firmed  and  illustrated  afresh,  was,  that  the  slaves,  so  far 
as  I  had  seen,  were  unconscious  of  any  feeling  of  re 
straint  ;  the  natural  order  of  life  proceeded  with  them  ; 
they  did  not  act  like  a  driven,  overborne  people,  stealing 
about  with  sulky  looks,  imbruted  by  abuse,  crazed,  stu 
pidly  melancholic.  People  habitually  miserable  could 
not  have  conducted  the  musical  service  of  public  wor 
ship  as  they  did  ;  their  looks  and  manner  gave  agreeable 
testimony  that,  in  spite  of  their  condition,  they  had 
sources  of  enjoyment  and  ways  of  manifesting  it  which 
suggested  to  a  spectator  no  thought  of  involuntary  ser 
vitude.  My  theory  was,  that  they  ought  to  be  perpetu 
ally  unhappy.  I  tried  to  persuade  myself  that  they 
were.  Ten  thousands  of  people  are  miserable  on  their 
account,  and  my  wonder  was,  that  the  slaves  themselves 
were  not  continually  verifying  and  warranting  all  the 
distress  of  which  they  "are  the  occasion.  This  is  one  of 
those  northern  fancies  which  ought  not  to  be  confessed, 
if  one  has  much  regard  to  being  ridiculed  at  the  south, 
and  mourned  over  by  some  at  the  north. 

Though  not  having  as  yet  gone  so  far  in  looking 
at  slavery  as  Goldsmith's  Traveler  had  wandered  in 
seeking  for  the  best  state  of  society,  I  was  nevertheless 
reminded,  more  than  once,  of  the  conclusion  to  which 
he  came  on  his  return  to  England,  — 


In  every  government,  though  terrors  reign, 
Though  tyrant  kings  or  tyrant  laws  restrain, 
How  small,  of  all  that  human  hearts  endure, 
That  part  which  laws  or  kings  can  cause  or  cure ! " 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  29 

In  churches  generally,  the  colored  people  occupy  the 
galleries,  sometimes  including  that  portion  which  with 
us  is  used  by  the  choir,  the  singers  in  such  cases  sitting 
below.  As  a  preacher  and  as  a  hearer,  I  have  had  op 
portunities  to  witness  their  appearance  in  public  worship, 
and  in  no  case  have  I  seen  inattention  or  sleep.  With 
much  fixedness  of  posture,  the  face  frequently  resting 
on  the  hand,  with  the  elbow  on  the  rail,  some  standing, 
all  looking  at  the  speaker,  they  were  an  example  of  de 
corum,  and  of  that  demeanor  which  encourages  a  public 
speaker.  In  an  audience  in  which  a  large  number  of 
colored  people  were  sitting  in  the  gallery  opposite  the 
pulpit,  it  being  somewhat  dark,  I  noticed  occasional 
quiet  disclosures  of  white  teeth,  like  fireflies  after  dark, 
as  feelings  of  gratification  in  one  and  another,  at  some 
affecting  expression  in  the  sermon,  made  them  smile. 

My  surprise  and  pleasure  experienced  a  high  tide  as 
I  noticed  something  which  I  may  find  it  difficult  to  make 
some  of  my  readers  understand,  or  believe. 

Coming  out  of  church  the  first  Sabbath  which  I  spent 
in  a  country  village,  I  saw  a  group  of  colored  men 
standing  under  the  trees  around  the  house,  waiting  for 
the  rest  of  the  people  to  pass  out.  I  could  not  be  mis 
taken  in  my  impression  from  their  looks  that  they  were 
Christian  men.  Their  countenances  were  intelligent 
and  happy ;  but  the  thing  to  which  I  allude,  and  of  which 
these  men  gave  me  my  first  impression,  was,  the  dress 
of  the  slaves. 


SECTION  II.  —  The  Dress  of  tlte  Slaves. 

To  see  slaves  with  broadcloth  suits,  well-fitting  and 
nicely -ironed  fine  shirts,  polished  boots,  gloves,  umbrellas 


30  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

for  sunshades,  the  best  of  hats,  their  young  men  with 
their  blue  coats  and  bright  buttons,  in  the  latest  style, 
white  Marseilles  vests,  white  pantaloons,  brooches  in 
their  shirt  bosoms,  gold  chains,  elegant  sticks,  and  some 
old  men  leaning  on  their  ivory  and  silver-headed  staves, 
as  respectable  in  their  attire  as  any  who  that  day  went 
to  the  house  of  God,  was  more  than  I  was  prepared  to 
see.  As  to  that  group  of  them  under  the  trees,  had  I 
been  unseen,  I  would  have  followed  my  impulse  to  shake 
hands  with  the  whole  of  them,  as  a  vent  to  my  pleasure 
in  seeing  slaves  with  all  the  bearing  of  respectable,  dig 
nified  Christian  gentlemen.  As  it  was,  I  involuntarily 
lifted  my  hat  to  them,  which  was  responded  to  by  them 
with  such  smiles,  uncovering  of  the  head,  and  graceful 
salutations,  that,  scribe  or  Pharisee,  I  felt  that  I  did  love 
such  greetings  in  the  market-places  from  such  people. 

Then  I  fell  into  some  reflections  upon  the  philosophy 
of  dress  as  a  powerful  means  of  securing  respect,  and 
thought  how  impossible  it  must  soon  become  to  treat 
with  indignity  men  who  respected  themselves,  as  these 
men  evidently  did ;  nay,  rather,  how  impossible  it  al 
ready  was  for  masters  who  would  so  clothe  their  ser 
vants  to  treat  them  as  cattle.  Further  acquaintance 
wTith  that  place  satisfied  me  that  this  inference  was  right. 
There  is  one  southern  town,  at  least,  where  it  would  be 
morally  as  impossible  for  a  good  servant  to  be  reckless 
ly  sold,  or  to  be  violently  separated  from  his  family,  or 
to  be  abused  with  impunity,  as  in  any  town  at  the 
north. 

On  seeing  these  men  in  their  Sabbath  attire,  and  feel 
ing  toward  them  as  their  whole  appearance  compelled 
me  to  do,  I  understood  one  thing  which  before  was  not 
explained.  I  had  always  noticed  that  southerners  sel- 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  31 

dom  used  the  word  slaves  in  private  conversation.  I 
supposed  that  it  was  conscience  that  made  them  change 
the  word,  as  they  had  also  omitted  it  in  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States.  But  I  was  soon  unable  to  use 
the  word  myself  in  conversation,  after  seeing  them  in 
their  Sabbath  dress,  and  as  my  hearers,  and  in  families  ; 
their  appearance  and  condition  in  so  great  a  proportion 
making  the  idea  connected  with  the  word  slave  incom 
patible  with  the  impressions  received  from  them.  Let 
no  one  draw  sweeping  conclusions  from  these  remarks, 
but  wait  till  we  have  together  seen  and  heard  other 
things,  and  in  the  mean  time  only  gather  from  what  has 
been  said  that  our  fancies  respecting  the  colored  people 
at  the  south,  as  well  as  their  masters,  are  not  all  of  them, 
probably,  correct. 

But  the  women,  the  colored  women,  in  the  streets  on 
the  Sabbath,  put  my  notions  respecting  the  appearance 
of  the  slaves  to  utter  discomfiture.  At  the  north  an 
elegantly-dressed  colored  woman  excites  mirth.  Every 
northerner  knows  that  this  is  painfully  true.  Gentlemen, 
ladies,  boys,  and  girls  never  pass  her  without  a  feeling 
of  the  ludicrous  ;  a  feeling  which  is  followed  in  some  — 
would  it  were  so  in  all  —  by  compunction  and  shame.  It 
was  a  pleasant  paradox  to  find  that  where  the  colored 
people  are  not  free,  they  have  in  many  things  the  most 
liberty,  and  among  them  the  liberty  to  dress  handsome 
ly,  and  be  respected  in  it. 

You  do  not  see  the  tawdriness  of  color,  the  super 
fluity  of  yellow,  the  violations  of  taste  in  the  dress  of 
the  colored  women  at  the  south  to  the  degree  which  you 
observe  in  some  other  places.  One  reason,  if  not  the 
chief,  is,  they  each  have  a  mistress,  a  matron,  or  young 
lady,  to  advise  and  direct  them,  and  to  be  responsible  in 
3 


32  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

the  community  for  their  good  appearance.  They  also 
wear  fabrics  and  millinery  which  either  good  taste,  or, 
at  least,  means  superior  to  theirs,  originally  selected  for 
the  use  of  their  mistresses  and  white  members  of  the 
family.  It  may  seem  extravagant  to  some,  but  the  pride 
we  have  in  the  respectable  appearance  of  children  is 
felt  by  southern  mistresses  with  regard  to  their  servants. 
A  grotesque,  ill-fashioned  dress  on  a  female  servant  ap 
pearing  in  public  on  the  Sabbath,  would  be  sure  to  be  a 
subject  of  a  hint  from  a  neighbor  or  friend.  My  previ 
ous  images  of  slaves  were  destroyed  by  the  sight  of  those 
women  with  dresses  which  would  have  been  creditable 
to  the  population  of  any  town  at  the  north.  The  most 
surprising  sight  of  all,  as  an  evidence  of  real  refinement 
and  good  taste,  was,  here  and  there,  a  simple  straw 
bonnet  with  a  plain  white  ribbon,  and  a  black  silk  dress. 
Such  is  the  ordinary  appearance  of  the  women  in  a 
country  town  on  the  Sabbath,  and  indeed  in  the  cities 
Fashion  hardly  stretches  her  influence  further.  Mixed 
with  these  specimens  of  the  putting  on  of  apparel  are 
seen,  of  course,  very  plain,  humble  clothing  and  turbans, 
and  instances  of  great  neglect  in  dress. 

It  must  be  observed  that  these  people,  men  and  wo 
men,  were  country  people,  many  of  them  plantation 
hands.  The  difference  between  them  and  city  slaves 
was  only  superficial. 

SECTION  III. —  The  Children  of  the  Slaves. 

But  of  all  the  touching  sights  of  innocence  and  love 
appealing  to  you  unconsciously  for  your  best  feelings  of 
tenderness  and  affection,  the  colored  young  children 
have  never  been  surpassed  in  my  experience.  Might  I 


A.    SOUTH-SIDE   VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  33 

choose  a  class  of  my  fellow-creatures  to  instruct  and 
love,  I  should  be  drawn  by  my  present  affection  toward 
them  to  none  more  readily  than  to  these  children  of  the 
slaves  ;  nor  should  I  expect  my  patience  and  affection  to 
be  more  richly  rewarded  elsewhere.  Extremes  of  dis 
position  and  character,  of  course,  exist  among  them,  as 
among  others  ;  but  they  are  naturally  as  bright,  affection 
ate,  and  capable  as  other  children,  while  the  ways  in 
which  your  instructions  impress  them,  the  reasonings 
they  excite,  the  remarks  occasioned  by  them,  are  cer 
tainly  peculiar. 

Their  attachments  and  sympathies  are  sometimes 
very  touching.  One  little  face  I  shall  never  forget,  of 
a  girl  about  seven  years  old,  who  passed  us  in  the  street 
on  an  errand,  with  such  a  peculiarly  distressed  yet 
gentle  look,  that  I  inquired  her  name.  A  lady  with 
me  said  that  she  belonged  to  a  white  family,  in  which  a 
son  had  recently  killed  a  companion  in  a  quarrel,  and 
had  fled.  The  natural  anguish  of  a  sister  at  some  dire 
ful  calamity  in  a  house  could  not  have  been  more  strik 
ingly  portrayed  than  in  that  sweet  little  dark  face.  It 
had  evidently  settled  there. 

Going  to  meeting  one  Sabbath  morning,  a  child,  about 
eight  years  old,  tripped  along  before  me,  with  her  hymn 
book  and  nicely-folded  handkerchief  in  her  hand,  the 
flounces  on  her  white  dress  very  profuse,  frilled  ankles, 
light-colored  boots,  mohair  mits,  and  sunshade,  all  show 
ing  that  some  fond  heart  and  hand  had  bestowed  great 
care  upon  her.  Home  and  children  came  to  mind.  I 
thought  of  the  feelings  which  that  flower  of  the  family 
perhaps  occasioned.  Is  it  the  pastor's  daughter  ?  Is  it 
the  daughter  of  the  lady  whose  garden  I  had  walked  in, 
but  which  bears  no  such  plant  as  this  ?  But  my  musings 


34  A    SOUTH-SIDE   VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 


• 


were  interrupted  by  the  child,  who,  on  hearing  foot 
steps  behind,  suddenly  turned,  and  showed  one  of  the 
blackest  faces  I  ever  saw.  It  was  one  of  the  thousands 
of  intelligent,  happy  colored  children,  who  on  every 
Sabbath,  in  every  southern  town  and  city,  make  a 
northern  visitor  feel  that  some  of  his  theoretical  opin 
ions  at  home,  with  regard  to  the  actual  condition  of 
slavery,  are  much  improved  by  practical  views  of  it. 

SECTION  IV.  —  Labor  and  Privileges. 

Life  on  the  cotton  plantations  is,  in  general,  as  severe 
with  the  colored  people  as  agricultural  life  at  the  north. 
I  have  spent  summers  upon  farms,  however,  where  the 
owners  and  their  hands  excited  my  sympathy  by  toils 
to  which  the  slaves  on  many  plantations  are  strangers. 
Every  thing  depends  upon  the  disposition  of  the  master. 
It  happened  that  I  saw  some  of  the  best  specimens,  and 
heard  descriptions  of  some  of  the  very  bad.  In  the  rice 
swamps,  malaria  begets  diseases  and  destroys  life  ;  in  the 
sugar  districts,  at  certain  seasons,  the  process  of  manu 
facture  requires  labor,  night  and  day,  for  a  considerable 
time.  There  the  different  dispositions  of  the  master 
affect  the  comfort  of  the  laborers  variously,  as  in  all 
other  situations. 

But  in  the  cotton-growing  country,  the  labor,  though 
extending  in  one  form  and  another  nearly  through  the 
year,  yet  taking  each  day's  labor  by  itself,  is  no  more 
toilsome  than  is  performed  by  a  hired  field  hand  at  the 
north ;  still  the  continuity  of  labor  from  February  to 
the  last  part  of  December,  with  a  slight  intermission  in 
midsummer,  when  the  crop  is  "  laid  by,"  the  stalks  being 
matured,  and  the  crop  left  to  ripen,  makes  plantation 
life  severe. 


A    SOUTH-SIDE   VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  35 

Some  planters  allow  their  hands  a  certain  portion  of 
the  soil  for  their  own  culture,  and  give  them  stated  times 
to  work  it ;  some  prefer  to  allow  them  out  of  the  whole 
crop  a  percentage  equal  to  such  a  distribution  of  land ; 
and  some  do  nothing  of  the  kind  ;  but  their  hearts  are 
made  of  the  northern  iron  and  the  steel.  It  is  the  com 
mon  law,  however,  with  all  who  regard  public  opinion 
at  the  south,  to  allow  their  hands  certain  privileges  and 
exemptions,  such  as  long  rest  in  the  middle  of  the  day, 
early  dismission  from  the  field  at  night,  a  half  day  occa 
sionally,  in  addition  to  holidays,  for  which  the  colored 
people  of  all  denominations  are  much  indebted  to  the 
Episcopal  church,  whose  festivals  they  celebrate  with 
the  largest  liberty. 

They  raise  poultry,  swine,  melons  ;  keep  bees  ;  catch 
fish ;  peddle  brooms,  and  small  articles  of  cabinet  mak 
ing  ;  and,  if  they  please,  lay  up  the  money,  or  spend  it 
on  their  wives  and  children,  or  waste  it  for  things  hurt 
ful,  if  there  are  white  traders  desperate  enough  to  defy 
the  laws  made  for  such  cases,  and  which  are  apt  to  be 
most  rigorously  executed.  Some  slaves  are  owners  of 
bank  and  railroad  shares.  A  slave  woman,  having  had 
three  hundred  dollars  stolen  from  her  by  a  white  man, 
her  master  was  questioned  in  court  as  to  the  probability 
of  her  having  had  so  much  money.  lie  said  that  he  not 
unfrequently  had  borrowed  fifty  and  a  hundred  dollars 
of  her,  and  added,  that  she  was  always  very  strict  as  to 
his  promised  time  of  payment. 

It  is  but  fair,  in  this  and  all  other  cases,  to  describe 
the  condition  of  things  as  commonly  approved  and  pre 
vailing  ;  and  when  there  are  painful  exceptions,  it  is  but 
just  to  consider  what  is  the  public  sentiment  with  regard 
to  them.  By  this  rule  a  visitor  is  made  to  feel  that 


36  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

good  and  kind  treatment  of  the  slaves  is  the  common 
law,  subject,  of  course,  to  caprices  and  passions.  One 
will  find  at  the  south  a  high  tone  of  feeling  on  this  sub 
ject,  and  meet  with  some  affecting  illustrations  of  it. 

You  may  see  a  wagon  from  a  neighboring  town  in  the 
market-place  of  a  city  or  large  place,  filled  with  honey 
combs,  melons,  mops,  husk  mats,  and  other  articles  of 
manufacture  and  produce,  and  a  white  man  with  his 
colored  servant  selling  them  at  wholesale  or  retail.  It 
will  interest  your  feelings,  and  give  you  some  new  im 
pressions  of  slave  owners,  to  know  that  these  articles 
are  the  property  of  that  servant,  and  that  his  master,  a 
respectable  gentleman,  with  disinterested  kindness,  is 
helping  his  servant  dispose  of  them,  protecting  him  from 
imposition,  making  change  for  him,  with  the  glow  of 
cheerfulness  and  good  humor  such  as  acts  like  these 
impart  to  the  looks  and  manner  of  a  real  gentleman, 
who  always  knows  how  to  sustain  himself  in  an  equivo 
cal  position. 

Had  that  master  overworked  his  servant  in  the  sugar 
season,  or  killed  him  in  the  field,  we  might  have  heard 
of  it  at  the  north ;  but  this  little  wagon  has  come  and 
gone  for  more  than  a  year  on  the  market  days,  the 
master  and  servant  chatting  side  by  side,  counting  their 
net  profits,  discussing  the  state  of  the  markets,  inventing 
new  commodities,  the  master  stepping  in  at  the  Savings 
Bank,  on  the  way  home,  and  entering  nine  or  ten  dollars 
more  in  Joe's  pass-book,  which  already  shows  several 
hundred  dollars ;  and  all  this  has  not  been  so  much  as 
named  on  the  platform  of  any  society  devoted  to  the 
welfare  of  the  slaves.  True,  there  are  masters,  who, 
as  the  psalm  sung  by  the  colored  choir  says,  "  never 
raise  their  thoughts  so  high;"  but  it  is  gratifying  to 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  37 

know  that  such  things  as  these  characterize  the  inter 
course  of  masters  and  servants  at  the  south.  Nameless 
are  they,  in  a  thousand  cases,  and  noiseless ;  but  the 
consciousness  of  them,  and  of  the  disposition  and  feel 
ings  which  prompt  them,  it  was  easy  to  see,  gives  to 
our  wholesale  denunciations  of  slavery  a  character  of 
injustice  which  grieves  and  exasperates  not  a  little. 

Probably  every  northerner  feels,  on  seeing  the  negro 
cabins,  that  he  could  make  them  apparently  more  com 
fortable  on  almost  every  plantation.  The  negroes  them 
selves  could  do  so,  if  they  chose,  in  very  many  cases  ; 
but  the  cabins  will  strike  every  one  disagreeably  at 
first.  We  err  in  comparing  them  with  dwellings  suited 
to  people  of  different  habits  and  choice  from  those  of  the 
colored  population  at  the  south.  A  log  cabin,  plastered 
with  mud,  whether  at  the  south  or  west,  seems  to  a 
stranger  a  mean,  pitiable  place.  I  was,  however, 
amused  with  a  man  in  the  cars,  whom  I  overheard  com 
plaining  that  in  building  a  house  for  his  own  family,  in 
a  new  settlement,  he  was  obliged  to  build  with  joists 
and  boards,  as  logs  were  not  to  be  had.  The  log  cabin 
is  cool  in  summer  and  warm  in  winter.  An  estimable 
man,  who  had  been  a  physician  and  became  a  planter, 
built  brick  cabins  for  his  people.  They  grew  sick  in 
them,  and  he  was  obliged  to  erect  log  cabins.  A  great 
fire,  and  at  the  same  time  thorough  ventilation,  are 
essential  to  their  comfort  and  health.  Both  of  these 
are  obtained  together  in  the  cabins  better  than  in  framed 
or  brick  dwellings. 


38  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 


SECTION  V. —  Personal  Protection. 

A  strong  public  sentiment  protects  the  person  of 
the  slave  against  annoyances  and  injuries.  Boys  and 
men  cannot  abuse  another  man's  servant.  Wrongs  to 
his  person  are  avenged.  It  amounts  in  many  cases  to 
a  chivalric  feeling,  increased  by  a  sense  of  utter  mean 
ness  and  cowardice  in  striking  or  insulting  one  who  can 
not  return  insult  for  insult  and  blow  for  blow.  Instances 
of  this  protective  feeling  greatly  interested  me.  One 
was  rather  singular,  indeed  ludicrous,  and  made  consid 
erable  sport ;  but  it  shows  how  far  the  feeling  can  pro 
ceed.  A  slave  was  brought  before  a  mayor's  court  for 
some  altercation  in  the  street ;  the  master  privately  re 
quested  the  mayor  to  spare  him  from  being  chastised, 
and  the  mayor  was  strongly  disposed  to  do  so ;  but  the 
testimony  was  too  palpably  against  the  servant,  and  he 
was  whipped ;  in  consequence  of  which  the  master  sent 
a  challenge  to  the  mayor  to  fight  a  duel. 

A  gentleman,  whose  slave  had  been  struck  by  a  white 
mechanic  with  whom  the  servant  had  remonstrated  for 
not  having  kept  an  engagement,  went  indignantly  to  the 
shop  with  his  man  servant  to  seek  explanation  and  re 
dress,  and  in  avenging  him,  had  his  arm  stripped  of  his 
clothing  by  a  drawing  knife  in  the  hands  of  the  mechanic. 

It  is  sometimes  asserted  that  the  killing  a  negro  is 
considered  a  comparatively  light  offence  at  the  south. 
In  Georgia  it  is  much  safer  to  kill  a  white  man  than  a 
negro  ;  and  if  either  is  done  in  South  Carolina,  the  law 
is  exceedingly  apt  to  be  put  in  force.  In  Georgia  I 
have  witnessed  a  strong  purpose  among  lawyers  to  pre 
vent  the  murderer  of  a  negro  from  escaping  justice. 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  39 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  this  disposition  is  on  the 
increase.  I  was  in  Columbia,  South  Carolina,  when  the 
Law  Court  of  Appeals  pronounced  sentence  of  death 
on  two  young  white  men  for  the  murder  of  a  negro 
who  had  driven  them  from  his  garden.  Murderers  of  a 
white  man  surely  could  not  have  been  addressed  other 
wise  than  thus  by  the  judge. 

u  You  must  remember  with  painful  emotions  the  bloody 
tragedy  of  that  peaceful  Sabbath  morning  in  which  you 
were  the  principal  actors. 

"  With  a  deadly  weapon  in  your  hand,  and  a  fatal  pur 
pose  in  your  hearts,  you  went  to  Shadrack  Johnson's  hum 
ble  dwelling,  and  in  the  presence  of  his  imploring  wife 
and  weeping  children,  committed  the  foul  murder  which 
your  wicked  hearts  had  conceived. 

'•  It  was  in  vain  that  you  relied  upon  the  evidence  of 
your  companions  to  excuse  or  to  extenuate  your  offence. 
Previous  threats,  the  preparation  of  a  deadly  weapon,  the 
intention  to  commit  a  trespass  upon  his  property,  and  the 
execution  of  your  fatal  purpose,  authorized  the  jury  to  say 
that  you  are  guilty. 

"  We  are  prepared  to  see  levity  and  indiscretion  in  youth  ; 
but  great  crimes  like  this  are  generally  the  result  of  evil 
passions  long  indulged,  and  of  temptations  unresisted. 

"  If  in  the  morning  of  life  you  have  become  habitually 
reckless  by  frequent  transgression,  you  must  have  lived 
without  that  moral  training  which  impresses  virtuous  les 
sons  on  the  youthful  heart ;  without  that  religious  instruc 
tion  which  teaches  God's  commandment,  'Thou  shalt  do 
no  murder/  and  that  if  you  keep  not  this  law,  you  shall 
surely  die. 

-  You  may  flatter  yourselves  with  the  hope  of  a  pardon. 
I  am  not  authorized  to  say  ho\v  far  the  governor  may  be 
induced  i  to  temper  justice  with  mercy;  '  but  if  this  last 
hope  shall  fail  you,  you  will  be  left  to  '  3,  fate  more  fearful 
than  the  death  of  the  body.'  For  such  an  event,  and  for 
such  a  fate,  I  would  admonish  you  to  prepare." 

Not  long  since,  two  men  were  convicted  of  worrying 
a  negro  with  dogs,  and  killing  him.  They  were  con 
fined  in  Charleston  jail.  The  people  of  their  own  dis- 


40  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

trict  meditated  a  rescue  ;  but  the  governor,  without 
changing  the  ordinary  course  of  proceeding  in  such 
cases,  conveyed  them,  under  military  guard,  to  the  dis 
trict  where  the  murder  was  committed,  and  they  were 
executed  in  sight  of  their  neighbors. 

There  have  been  mournful  cases  in  which  the  mur 
derer  of  a  negro  has  escaped  deserved  punishment ;  but 
it  was  not  because  it  was  a  negro  that  was  killed.  The 
murderers  of  white  people  have  as  frequently  obtained 
impunity.  The  arguments  of  lawyers  at  the  bar  have 
been  quoted  to  show  that  the  life  of  a  negro  at  the  south 
is  not  equivalent  to  the  life  of  a  white  person  ;  even  if 
this  be  correct,  we  forget  that  lawyers,  in  changing  sides, 
sometimes  change  their  minds,  and  are  unwilling  to  have 
their  previous  views  quoted  as  authority. 

The  laws  allow  the  master  great  extent  in  chastising 
a  slave,  as  a  protection  to  himself  and  to  secure  subor 
dination.  Here  room  is  given  for  brutal  acts  ;  barba 
rous  modes  of  inflicting  pain,  resulting  in  death,  are 
employed  ;  but  it  is  increasingly  the  case  that  vengeance 
overtakes  and  punishes  such  transgressors. 

It  is  well  for  themselves  that  the  blacks  do  not  have 
the  temptations  which  the  liberty  of  testifying  against 
the  whites  would  give  them.  While  they  are  thus  re 
stricted  by  law,  for  obvious  reasons,  from  giving  testi 
mony,  their  evidence  has  its  just  weight  with  juries,  when 
it  is  known.  Offenders  do  not  escape  more  frequently  at 
the  south,  by  legal  quibbles,  imperfect  legislation,  and 
the  ingenuity  of  lawyers  than  in  the  free  States.  The 
whole  impression  with  regard  to  personal  protection  ex 
tended  over  the  slaves,  as  compared  with  personal  safety 
elsewhere,  was  far  different  from  that  which  I  had  been 
led  to  expect. 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  41 


SECTION  VI.  —  Prevention  of  Crime. 

Prevention  of  crime  among  the  lower  class  of  society 
is  one  striking  feature  of  slavery.  Day  and  night  every 
one  of  them  is  amenable  to  a  master.  If  ill  disposed, 
he  has  his  own  policeman  in  hi's  owner.  Thus  three 
millions  of  the  laboring  class  of  our  population  are  in  a 
condition  most  favorable  to  preservation  from  crimes 
against  society.  But  the  petty  larcenies  which  swell  our 
public  records  of  crime  are,  many  of  them,  at  the  south 
privately  punished,  and  do  not  enter  into  the  public 
enumerations  of  offences. 

A  prosecuting  officer,  who  had  six  or  eight  counties 
in  his  district,  told  me  that  during  eight  years  of  ser 
vice,  he  had  made  out  about  two  thousand  bills  of 
indictment,  of  which  not  more  than  twelve  were  against 
colored  people.  It  must  follow  of  necessity  that  a  large 
amount  of  crime  is  prevented  by  the  personal  relation 
of  the  colored  man  to  a  white  citizen.  It  would  be  a 
benefit  to  some  of  our  immigrants  at  the  north,  and  to 
society,  if  government  could  thus  prevent  or  reach  dis 
turbances  of  the  peace  through  masters,  overseers,  or 
guardians.  But  we  cannot  rival  in  our  police  measures 
the  beneficial  system  of  the  south  in  its  distributive 
agencies  to  prevent  burglaries  and  arson. 

A  physician,  relating  his  experience  in  his  rides  at 
night,  said  that  in  solitary  places,  the  sudden  appearance 
of  a  white  man  generally  excited  some  apprehension  with 
regard  to  personal  safety,  but  the  sight  of  a  black  man 
was  always  cheering,  and  made  him  feel  safe.  Husbands 
and  fathers  feel  secure  on  leaving  home  for  several  days, 
even  where  their  houses  are  surrounded  by  negro  cabins 


42  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

and  the  dwellings  of  the  whites  are  much  scattered.  The 
reading  of  this  would  awaken  a  smile  in  many  a  south 
erner,  for  it  is  far  below  the  truth. 

On  reaching  the  Great  Pedee  River  near  midnight, 
on  the  way  to  Wilmington,  North  Carolina,  the  passen 
gers  leave  the  cars  and  go  down  into  a  rude  scow  or 
raft,  to  be  pulled  over  the  stream.  It  is  a  dismal  place. 
Small  piles  of  the  pitch  pine  light  wood  are  burning 
here  and  there  in  place  of  lamps  or  moonlight ;  negroes 
stand  within  twelve  or  fifteen  feet  of  each  other,  hold 
ing  aloft  a  blazing  knot,  the  reflection  of  the  blaze  on 
their  dark  skins  giving  them  a  fiery-red  look ;  while 
twenty  or  thirty  of  them  are  seen  each  with  baggage 
on  his  shoulders,  transferring  it  to  the  boat.  It  seems 
just  the  place  for  some  fearful  catastrophe.  The  loco 
motive  is  far  above  you  on  piles,  looking  over  like  a 
frightened  horse  into  the  gulf;  the  yellow  water  is  in 
the  swamps  on  either  hand,  with  its  brood  of  amphibious 
creatures  ;  you  strike  your  cane,  or  foot,  against  a  log, 
and  pieces  of  phosphorescent  wood  fly  about;  all  is 
stagnant  and  deathlike ;  you  are  at  your  wits'  end  as 
to  any  way  of  escape  from  the  doleful  place  without 
help.  The  few  white  male  passengers,  with  a  large 
number  of  women  and  children,  would  be  very  much  at 
the  mercy  of  those  brawny  slaves,  should  they  be  dis 
posed  to  assert  their  power ;  but  the  patient  looks  of  the 
negroes,  the  silent  manner  in  which  they  perform  their 
work,  the  care  which  they  take  in  properly  disposing 
the  smaller  pieces  of  baggage  so  as  not  to  be  crushed 
by  trunks,  and  their  whole  appearance  of  cheerfulness, 
awaken  feelings  of  affection  and  gratitude  instead  of 
alarm  or  thoughts  of  danger.  There  is  something  in 
the  apparent  meekness  of  slaves  in  their  work  at  such 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  43 

times  that  makes  one  love  them  greatly  and  feel  an  in 
tense  desire  to  protect  them  from  imperious,  unfeeling 
words  and  treatment.  Their  natural  passions  and  pro 
pensities  sometimes  get  the  mastery  over  them,  because 
they  are  men  ;  but  they  are  not  predisposed  to  violence 
and  insubordination. 


44  A  SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 


CHAPTER    V. 

FAVORABLE   APPEARANCES   IX   SOUTHERN   SOCIETY 
AND    IN    SLAVERY— CONTINUED. 

SECTION  VII.- — Absence  of  Mobs. 

ONE  consequence  of  the  disposal  of  the  colored  people 
as  to  individual  control  is,  the  absence  of  mobs.  That 
fearful  element  in  society,  an  irresponsible  and  low  class, 
is  not  found  at  the  south.  Street  brawls  and  conflicts 
between  two  races  of  laboring  people,  or  the  ignorant 
and  more  excitable  portions  of  different  religious  denom 
inations,  are  mostly  unknown  within  the  bounds  of 
slavery.  Our  great  source  of  disturbance  at  the  north, 
jealousy  and  collisions  between  Protestant  and  Irish 
Roman  Catholic  laborers,  is  obviated  there. 

When  the  remains  of  Mr.  Calhoun  were  brought  to 
Charleston,  a  gentleman  from  a  free  State  in  the  proces 
sion  said  to  a  southern  gentleman,  "  Where  is  your  un- 
derswell?"  referring  to  the  motley  crowd  of  men  and 
boys  of  all  nations  which  gather  in  most  of  our  large 
places  on  public  occasions.  He  was  surprised  to  learn 
that  those  respectable,  well-dressed,  well-behaved  colored 
men  and  boys  on  the  sidewalks  were  a  substitute  for  that 
class  of  population  which  he  had  elsewhere  been  accus 
tomed  to  see  with  repugnant  feelings  on  public  occa 
sions. 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  45 


SECTION  VIII.  —  Personal  Liberty. 

The  personal  liberty  of  the  slaves  is  in  contrast  with 
the  notions  which  many  hold.  To  trust  them  far  out 
of  sight,  many  suppose,  is  unsafe  and  very  unusual.  This 
is  soon  corrected  on  seeing  such  instances  as  these  which 
came  to  my  knowledge,  and  which  are  not  remarkable. 

A  gentleman  sent  a  slave  with  a  horse  and  buggy  to 
the  plantation  of  a  relative  a  hundred  and  ten  miles 
distant,  to  get  some  of  the  herb  boneset  for  an  invalid 
daughter  under  medical  treatment.  Ralph  was  a  culler 
of  simples,  remembered  where  the  herb  grew,  and  was 
sure  that  none  could  be  found  short  of  that  plantation. 
He  returned  in  due  time  with  "  a  smart  heap  of  it." 

"  I  saw  a  slave  who  had  been  sent  seven  hundred  miles, 
to  Washington,  D.  C.,  with  his  master's  span  of  horses 
and  carriage,  and  a  considerable  amount  of  gold.  This 
man  was  once  abducted,  with  others,  at  Washington,  in  a 
well-known  case,  but  voluntarily  returned,  with  the  loss 
of  his  watch  and  money,  to  his  master.  The  feeling  of 
masters  is,  that  they  will  not  keep  a  servant  who  is  not 
willing  to  remain  with  them.  They  are  suffered  to  find 
other  masters.  If  on  fleeing  they  are  pursued,  it  is  to 
recover  them  as  property ;  but  they  are  almost  invaria 
bly  disposed  of. 

SECTION,  IX.  —  Absence  of  popular  Delusions. 

There  is  another  striking  peculiarity  of  southern  so 
ciety  which  is  attributable  to  slavery,  and  is  very  inter 
esting  to  a  northerner  at  the  present  day.  While  the 
colored  people  are  superstitious  and  excitable,  popular 


46  A-  SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

delusions  and  fanaticisms  do  not  prevail  among  them. 
That  class  of  society  among  us  in  which  these  things 
get  root  has  a  substitute  in  the  colored  population. 
Spiritual  rappings,  biology,  second-adventism,  Mormon- 
ism,  and  the  whole  spawn  of  errors  which  infest  us,  do 
not  find  subjects  at  the  south.  There  is  far  more  faith  in 
the  south,  taken  as  a  whole,  than  with  us.  Many  things 
which  we  feel  called  to  preach  against  here  are  con 
fined  to  the  boundaries  of  the  free  States ;  yet  the 
white  population  are  readers  of  books,  though  not  of 
newspapers,  perhaps  more  generally  than  we.  That 
vast  amount  of  active  but  uninstructed  mind  with  us 
which  seizes  every  new  thing,  and  follows  brilliant  or 
specious  error,  and  erects  a  folly  into  a  doctrine  with  a 
sect  annexed,  and  so  infuses  doubt  or  contempt  of  things 
sacred  into  many  minds,  is  no  element  in  southern  life. 
This  is  one  reason  why  there  is  more  faith,  less  infidelity, 
at  the  south,  than  at  the  north.  The  opinions  of  a  lower 
class  on  moral  and  religious  subjects  have  a  powerful 
effect  on  the  classes  above  them  more  than  is  generally 
acknowledged ;  and  hence  we  derive  an  argument  in  fa 
vor  of  general  education,  in  which  moral  and  religious 
principles  shall  have  their  important  place. 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  47 


CHAPTER    VI. 

FAVORABLE  APPEARANCES  IN   SOUTHERN    SOCIETY 
AND    IN  SLAVERY  — CONTINUED. 

SECTION  X.  —  Absence  of  Pauperism. 

PAUPERISM  is  prevented  by  slavery.  This  idea  is 
absurd,  no  doubt,  in  the  apprehension  of  many  at  the 
north,  who  think  that  slaves  are,  as  a  matter  of  course, 
paupers.  Nothing  can  be  more  untrue. 

Every  slave  has  an  inalienable  claim  in  law  upon  his 
owner  for  support  for  the  whole  of  life.  He  can  not  be 
thrust  into  an  almsliousc,  he  can  not  become  a  vagrant, 
he  can  not  beg  his  living,  he  can  not  be  wholly  neglected 
when  he  is  old  and  decrepit. 

I  saw  a  white-headed  negro  at  the  door  of  his  cabin 
on  a  gentleman's  estate,  who  had  done  no  work  for  ten 
years.  He  enjoys  all  the  privileges  of  the  plantation, 
garden,  and  orchard ;  is  clothed  and  fed  as  carefully  as 
though  he  were  useful.  On  asking  him  his  age,  lie  said 
he  thought  he  "  must  be  nigh  a  hundred ; "  that  he  was 
a  servant  to  a  gentleman  in  the  army  "  when  Washing 
ton  fit  Cornwallis  and  took  him  at  Little  York." 

At  a  place  called  Harris's  Neck,  Georgia,  there  is  a  ser 
vant  who  has  been  confined  to  his  bed  with  rheumatism 
thirty  years,  and  no  invalid  has  more  reason  to  be,grate- 
ful  for  attention  and  kindness.  < 

4 


48  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

Going  into  the  office  of  a  physician  and  surgeon,  I 
accidentally  saw  the  leg  of  a  black  man  which  had  just 
been  amputated  for  an  ulcer.  The  patient  will  be  a 
charge  upon  his  owner  for  life.  An  action  at  law  may 
be  brought  against  one  who  does  not  provide  a  comfort 
able  support  for  his  servants. 

Thus  the  pauper  establishments  of  the  free  States,  the 
burden  and  care  of  immigrants,  are  almost  entirely  obvi 
ated  at  the  south  by  the  colored  population.  While  we 
bow  in  submission  to  the  duty  of  governing  or  maintain 
ing  certain  foreigners,  we  can  not  any  of  us  conceal  that 
we  have  natural  preferences  and  tastes  as  to  the  ways  of 
doing  good.  In  laboring  for  the  present  and  future  wel 
fare  of  immigrants,  we  are  subjected  to  evils  of  which 
we  are  ashamed  to  complain,  but  from  which  the  south 
is  enviably  free.  To  have  a  neighborhood  of  a  certain 
description  of  foreigners  about  your  dwellings;  to  see  a 
horde  of  them  get  possession  of  a  respectable  dwelling 
in  a  court,  and  thus  force  the  residents,  as  they  always 
do,  to  flee,  it  being  impossible  to  live  with  comfort  in 
close  connection  with  them;  to  have  all  the  senses  as 
sailed  from  their  opened  doors  ;  to  have  your  Sabbath  ut 
terly  destroyed,  —  is  not  so  agreeable  as  the  presence  of  a 
respectable  colored  population,  every  individual  of  which 
is  under  the  responsible  oversight  of  a  master  or  mis 
tress,  who  restrains  and  governs  him,  and  has  a  repu 
tation  to  maintain  in  his  respectable  appearance  and 
comfort,  and  keeps  him  from  being  a  burden  on  the 
community. 

I  thought  of  our  eleven  thousand  paupers  who  have 
been  received  at  Deer  Island,  in  Boston  harbor,  during 
the  short  time  that  it  has  been  appropriated  to  that  pur 
pose,  and  of  our  large  State  workhouses,  which  we  so 


A    SOUTH-SIDE   VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  49 

patiently  build  for  the  dregs  of  the  foreign  population. 
This  paragraph  from  the  Boston  Post  is  in  place  here :  — 

HOUSE  OF  CORRECTION.  —  There  were  yesterday  six 
hundred  and  fifty-four  prisoners  in  the  House  of  Correc 
tion,  with  the  promise  of  an  addition  of  thirty  more  before 
to-morrow.  The  accommodations  are  so  limited  that  about 
one  hundred  of  them  are  compelled  to  sleep  in  one  of 
the  workshops,  and  it  is  the  intention  of  the  master  to 
place  a  part  of  them  in  the  chapel.  So  many  are  there, 
that  it  is  difficult  to  find  any  thing  for  a  large  portion  of 
them  to  do  ;  and  sometimes  from  eighty  to  one  hundred  are 
idle.  When  a  call  is  made  upon  any  of  the  idle  ones  to 
do  any  work  out  doors,  they  jump  with  great  alacrity  to 
perform  it,  being  delighted  to  have  an  opportunity  to 
breathe  the  fresh  air. 


The  south  is  saved  from  much  of  this  by  her  colored 
laboring  class.  We  may  say  that  we  prefer  even  this  to 
slavery  without  it.  They  may  reply  as  one  of  the  Sacs 
and  Fox  Indians  said  in  his  speech  at  our  State-House 
several  years  ago  to  the  governor,  alluding  to  our  pen 
insula  :  '•  We  are  glad  you  have  got  this  island,  and 
hope  you  are  contented  with  it." 

The  following  case,  that  came  to  my  knowledge,  offers 
a  good  illustration  of  the  views  which  many  slaves  take 
of  their  dependent  condition.  A  colored  woman  with 
her  children  lived  in  a  separate  cabin  belonging  to  her 
master,  washing  clothes  for  families  in  that  place.  She 
paid  her  master  a  percentage  of  her  earnings,  and  had 
laid  up  more  than  enough  to  buy  her  freedom  and  that 
of  her  children.  Why,  as  she  might  be  made  free,  does 
she  not  use  it  rather  ? 

She  says  that  if  she  were  to  buy  her  freedom,  she  would 
have  no  one  to  take  care  of  her  for  the  rest  of  her  life. 
Now  her  master  is  responsible  for  her  support.  She 


50  A    SOUTH-SIDE   VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

has  no  care  about  the  future.  Old  age,  sickness,  poverty, 
do  not  trouble  her.  "  I  can  indulge  myself  and  chil 
dren,"  she  says,  "  in  things  which  otherwise  I  could  not 
get.  If  we  want  new  things  faster  than  mistress  gets 
them  for  us,  I  can  spare  money  to  get  them.  If  I  buy  my 
freedom,  I  cut  myself  off  from  the  interests  of  the  white 
folks  in  me.  Now  they  feel  that  I  belong  to  them,  and 
people  will  look  to  see  if  they  treat  me  well."  Her  only 
trouble  is,  that  her  master  may  die  before  her  ;  then  she 
will  "  have  to  be  free." 


SECTION  XL —  Wages  of  Labor. 

One  error  which  I  had  to  correct  in  my  own  opinions 
was  with  regard  to  wages  of  labor.  I  will  illustrate  my 
meaning  by  relating  a  case. 

A  young  colored  woman  is  called  into  a  family  at  the 
south  to  do  work  as  a  seamstress.  Her  charge  is,  per 
haps,  thirty-seven  and  a  half  cents  per  day. 

"  Do  you  have  your  wages  for  your  own  use?"  "No  ; 
I  pay  mistress  half  of  what  I  earn." 

Seamstresses  in  our  part  of  the  country,  toiling  all 
day,  you  will  naturally  think,  are  not  compelled  to  give 
one  half  of  their  earnings  to  an  owner.  This  may  be 
your  first  reflection,  accompanied  with  a  feeling  of  com 
passion  for  the  poor  girl,  and  with  some  thoughts,  not 
agreeable,  concerning  mistresses  who  take  from  a  child  of 
toil  half  her  day's  earnings.  You  will  put  this  down  as 
one  of  the  accusations  to  be  justly  made  against  slavery. 

But,  on  reflecting  further,  you  may  happen  to  ask 
yourself,  How  much  does  it  cost  this  seamstress  for 
room  rent,  board,  and  clothing  ?  The  answer  will  be, 
nothing.  Who  provides  her  with  these  ?  Her  mistress. 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OP    SLAVERY.  51 

Perhaps,  now,  your  sympathy  may  be  arrested,  and  may 
begin  to  turn  in  favor  of  the  mistress.  The  girl  does 
not  earn  enough  to  pay  her  expenses,  yet  she  has  a  full 
support,  and  lays  up  money. 

Could  we  make  such  provision  for  the  army  of  seam 
stresses  who  work  for  the  shops  in  New  York  and  other 
large  places,  making  shirts  at  six  or  eight  cents  each, 
and  paying  rent  and  board  out  of  this,  we  should  feel  that 
one  heavy  burden  was  lifted  from  our  hearts  ;  and  cer 
tainly  it  would  be  from  theirs.  I  compared  the  condi 
tion  of  those  colored  seamstresses  with  that  of  the 
seamstresses  of  London  so  often  described  and  sung. 
Thomas  Hood  has  caused  this  inscription  to  be  placed 
on  his  monument :  "  He  sung  the  Song  of  the  Shirt." 
Had  he  never  seen  any  seamstresses  but  those  who  are 
American  slaves,  he  would  not  have  had  occasion  to 
write  that  song. 

The  accusation  against  slavery  of  working  human 
beings  without  Avagcs  must  be  modified,  if  we  give  a 
proper  meaning  to  the  term  wages.  A  stipulated  sum  per 
diem  is  our  common  notion  of  wages.  Avast  many  slaves 
get  wages  in  a  better  form  than  this  —  in  provision  for 
their  support  for  the  whole  of  life,  with  permission  to 
earn  something,  and  more  or  less  according  to  the  dis 
position  of  the  masters  and  the  ability  of  the  slaves.  A 
statement  of  the  case,  which  perhaps  is  not  of  much 
value,  was  made  by  a  slaveholder  in  this  form  :  You 
hire  a  domestic  by  the  week,  or  a  laborer  by  the  month, 
for  certain  wages,  with  food,  lodging,  perhaps  clothing ; 
I  hire  him  for  the  term  of  life,  becoming  responsible  for 
him  in  his  decrepitude  and  old  age.  Leaving  out  of 
view  the  involuntariness  on  his  part  of  the  arrangement, 
he  gets  a  good  equivalent  for  his  services  ;  to  his  risk 


52  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

of  being  sold,  and  passing  from  hand  to  hand,  there  is  an 
offset  in  the  perpetual  claim  which  he  will  have  on  some 
owner  for  maintenance  all  his  days.  Whether  some  of 
our  immigrants  would  not  be  wiUing  to  enter  into  such 
a  contract,  is  a  question  which  many  opponents  of  sla 
very  at  the  north  would  not  hesitate  to  answer  for  them, 
saying  that  liberty  to  beg  and  to  starve  is  better  than  to 
have  all  your  present  wants  supplied,  and  a  competency 
for  life  guarantied,  in  slavery.  Not  to  discuss  the  ques 
tion  of  the  comparative  value  of  liberty  in  cases  in  which 
all  good  is  abstracted,  and  of  slavery  when  furnished 
with  the  comforts  of  life,  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  remind 
ourselves  that  the  following  description  from  the  New 
York  Journal  of  Commerce  cannot  be  verified  within 
the  bounds  of  the  slave  States  :  — 

THE  MISERIES  OF  NEW  YORK.  —  A  number  of  hotels 
and  restaurants  make  a  practice  of  distributing  the  frag 
ments  of  food  collected  from  the  tables,  to  the  poor,  at 
regular  hours,  every  afternoon.  By  observing  how  this  is 
done,  any  curious  person  can  readily  obtain  some  insight 
into  the  miseries  of  the  city.  By  the  same  process,  a  par 
tial  cue  may  be  had  to  the  so  called  "  mysteries  of  New 
York,"  which  have  always  afforded  a  prolific  theme  for 
scribblers.  The  place  where  these  bounties  are  to  be  dis 
pensed  is  indicated  some  time  in  advance  by  the  throng 
of  wretched-looking  people  who  eagerly  crowd  around, 
with  baskets,  aprons,  &c.,  in  which  to  bear  aWay  the  ex 
pected  gifts.  The  bloated  inebriate,  tottering,  creatures 
enfeebled  by  disease,  as  well  as  many  young  giifls,  acting 
as  agents  for  others  who  remain  in  their  own  garrets  and 
cellars,  —  all  are  represented.  On  the  first  appearance 
of  the  provisions,  which  form  a  complete  chowder  of  bread, 
meats,  pastry,  lobster,  fish,  and  vegetables,  a  general  rush 
is  made,  which  has  often  to  be  forcibly  repelled.  With  a 
large  scoop,  broken  plate,  or  something  of  the  kind,  a 
quantity  of  the  mixture  is  thrown  into  each  vessel  or  other 
receptacle^  extended  to  receive  it,  with  all  possible  rapidi- 
ty;  —  the  crowd  meanwhile  pressing  closer  and  closer, 
until  again  forced  into  the  background.  Every  device  is 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEAV    OF    SLAVERY.  53 

resorted  to  in  order  to  secure  a  double  portion.  A  common 
trick  is,  to  have  a  basket  placed  one  side,  into  which  each 
fresh  instalment  is  deposited,  until  no  more  can  be  pro 
cured.  Another  will  have  a  capacious  apron  or  bag  sus 
pended  from  the  waist,  secure  from  observation,  while  the 
contents  of  the  extended  basket  or  dish  are  slyly  thrust  into 
it  unnoticed.  Some,  in  this  manner,  obtain  the  lion's 
share,  while  the  weak,  sick,  or  decrepit  are  turned  off 
empty.  The  scene  would  bear  to  be  transferred  to  canvas 
with  an  artist's  pencil. 


SECTION  XII.  —  Religious  Instruction. 

When  religious  instruction,  the  pure,  simple  gospel  of 
Jesus  Christ,  is  extended  to  our  laboring  classes  gener 
ally,  adults  and  children,  as  fully  as  it  is  enjoyed  by  the 
slaves  in  such  parts  of  the  south  as  I  visited,  an  object 
will  be  gained  of  far  more  intrinsic  importance  to  our  na 
tional  prosperity  than  all  questions  relating  to  slavery. 

Probably,  in  very  many  places  at  the  south,  a  larger 
proportion  of  the  slaves  than  of  the  whites  have  given 
evidence  of  being  the  children  of  God.  The  religious 
condition  of  the  slaves  surprises  every  visitor.  The 
number  of  communicants  among  them,  in  proportion  to 
the  whites,  is  frequently  astonishing ;  for  example,  in  cases 
known  to  me,  one  hundred  and  fifty  blacks  to  fifty  whites, 
two  hundred  to  twenty,  four  hundred  to  one  hundred. 

In  Virginia,  the  whole  number  of  communicants  in  the 
Baptist  churches  is  stated  to  me,  by  a  Baptist  pastor,  to 
be  forty-five  thousand  blacks  and  fifty  thousand  whites. 

In  Savannah,  Georgia,  in  a  population  of  several  thou 
sand  blacks,  more  than  one  third  are  church  members. 
Three  colored  pastors,  with  salaries  from  eight  hundred 
to  a  thousand  dollars,  are  supported  by  subscriptions  and 
pew  rents  among  their  own  members.  More  than  one 


'54  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

third  of  the  whole  number  of  communicants  reported 
by  the  synod  of  South  Carolina  are  colored  people.  Of 
the  three  hundred  and  eighty-four  thousand  in  that  State, 
one  seventh,  or  more  than  fifty  thousand,  are  professors 
of  religion.  In  1853,  fifteen  thousand  dollars  were  con 
tributed  by  five  thousand  slaves,  in  Charleston,  to  benev 
olent  objects.  These  statistics,  which  are  a  fair  sample, 
might  easily  be  multiplied,  but  it  is  unnecessary.  Religion 
has  gained  wonderful  ascendency  among  this  people. 

I  went  to  their  prayer  meetings.  One  of  them  will 
represent  the  rest.  They  met  in  the  choir-part  of  the 
gallery,  in  the  evening,  once  a  week.  A  white  brother 
presided,  as  the  law  requires,  and  read  a  portion  of 
Scripture ;  but  the  slaves  conducted  the  meeting.  They 
came  in  with  their  every-day  dresses,  and  each,  as  he 
entered,  prostrated  himself  in  prayer.  One  of  them 
stood  up  before  the  desk,  and  repeated  a  hymn,  two 
lines  at  a  time.  At  the  singing  of  the  last  stanza  in 
each  hymn,  they  all  rose ;  and  they  invariably  repeated 
the  last  two  lines  of  a  hymn.  They  prayed  without 
being  called  upon.  Such  prayers  I  never  heard.  There 
was  nothing  during  the  week  that  I  anticipated  with  so 
much  pleasure  as  the  return  of  that  prayer  meeting. 
Earnestness  in  manner,  overflowing  love  to  God,  com 
passion  for  their  fellow-men  every  where,  gratitude  un 
bounded  to  Christ  for  his  great  love  wherewith  he  loved 
them,  a  deep  and  touching  sense  of  unworthiness,  supplica 
tions  for  mercy  and  for  grace  to  keep  them  from  sin,  all 
expressed  in  original,  but  frequently  ungrammatical,  yet 
sometimes  beautiful  and  affecting  terms,  characterized  all 
their  prayers.  "  0  Lord,  we  prostrate  ourselves  before 
thee  on  the  sinful  hands  and  knees  of  our  poor  miserable 
bodies  and  souls."  "  0  Lord,  may  our  hearts  all  be  sot 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  55 

right  tonight ;  may  thy  blessed  Spirit  shine  away  all 
our  doubts  and  fears."  It  was  touching  to  hear  one  man 
say,  "  Bless  our  dear  masters  and  brothers,  who  come 
here  to  read  the  Bible  to  us,  and  pay  so  much  attention 
to  us,  though  we  ain't  that  sort  of  people  as  can  outer- 
pert  thy  word  in  all  its  colors  and  forms."  "0  my 
heavenly  Father,"  said  an  old  man,  "  I  am  thy  dear 
child.  I  know  I  love  thee.  Thou  art  my  God,  my 
portion,  and  nothing  else.  0  my  Father,  I  have  no 
home  in  this  world ;  my  home  is  very  far  off.  I  long 
to  see  it.  Jesus  is  there ;  thou  art  there ;  angels,  good 
men  are  there.  I  am  coining  home.  I  am  one  day 
nearer  to  it." 

The  hymns  being  given  out  from  memory,  I  was 
much  affected  in  noticing  the  description  of  hymns  which 
had  been  learned.  Those  by  Watts,  expressing  native 
depravity  and  need  of  regenerating  grace,  seemed  to  be 
favorites,  such,  for  example,  as  the  versifications  of  the 
fifty-first  psalm :  "  Show  pity,  Lord,  O  Lord,  forgive," 
and,  "  How  sad  our  state  by  nature  is ! " 

I  cannot  soon  forget  the  looks  of  one  leader,  and  the 
impression  he  and  the  hymn  made  upon  me.  When  he 
repeated  two  lines  at  a  time,  all  the  meeting  joined  in 
singing  that  hymn  —  "How  oft  have  sin  and  Satan  strove 
To  rend  my  soul  from  thee  my  God,"  &c.  No  one  ever 
seemed  to  feel  the  last  verse  of  that  hymn  more  than 
they  —  "  The  gospel  bears  my  spirit  up,"  &c. 

I  never  perceived  in  their  prayers  any  thing  that  re 
minded  me  of  their  condition  as  slaves.  They  made  no 
allusions  to  sorrows  but  those  which  are  spiritual,  and 
they  chiefly  dwelt  upon  their  temptations.  But  the  love 
of  Christ  and  heaven  were  the  all-inspiring  themes  of 
their  prayers  and  hymns.  The  pastor  of  a  large  colored 


56  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

church,  containing  many  free  blacks,  told  me  that  he 
was  never  reminded  by  their  respective  prayers  of  their 
respective  conditions,  as  bond  or  free. 

One  man  prayed  with  a  voice  which  I  never  heard 
surpassed  for  strength.  lie  had  no  control  over  it,  so 
that,  when  emotions  set  in  with  sudden  power,  they 
would  force  it  to  an  amazing  pitch,  though  the  sentiment 
did  not  always  warrant  the  proportion  of  stress.  I  have 
no  question  that  portions  of  his  prayer  could  have  been 
heard  distinctly  across  the  Connecticut  River  in  any  part 
of  its  course  in  a  still  night.  Withal  it  was  musical,  and 
wholly  inoffensive. 

During  the  Sabbath,  in  addition  to  their  opportuni 
ties  of  worship  with  the  whites,  a  sermon  is  generally 
preached  to  them  separately,  though  the  white  people 
are  not  excluded.  The  colored  men  are  called  upon  to 
offer  prayers.  The  gospel  which  is  preached  to  them, 
so  far  as  I  heard  it,  is  the  same  gospel  which  is  preached 
to  us.  The  only  difference  between  them  and  us,  as  to 
religious  instruction,  is,  they  cannot  generally  read.  The 
white  children  teach  many  of  them,  and  the  colored 
children  are  frequently  able  to  read  the  Bible.  The 
colored  choirs  are,  of  course,  able  to  read. 

The  laws  forbidding  their  being  publicly  taught  to 
read  are  retained  in  order  to  be  used  against  those  who 
teach  them  from  motives  of  interference.  But  these 
laws,  so  far  as  they  restrict  the  liberty  of  the  citizens  in 
giving  instruction,  are  privately  disregarded.  A  south 
ern  member  of  Congress  told  me  that,  in  his  State,  they 
were  generally  a  dead  letter,  and  that  they  would  be 
abolished,  except  that  this  would  expose  the  people  to 
improper  intrusions  of  teachers  and  books.  In  his  own 
case,  for  example,  he  was  obliged  to  have  men  servants 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  57 

that  could  read,  if  for  no  other  reason,  that  they  might 
know  the  titles  of  books,  superscriptions  of  letters,  and 
other  things,  in  performing  errands  or  receiving  written 
orders. 

Their  acquaintance  with  the  word  of  God  is,  to  a  great 
extent,  through  oral  instruction ;  yet  in  all  that  constitutes 
Christian  excellence,  and  that  knowledge  of  God  which 
comes  directly  from  him,  they  have  no  superiors.  A 
man  who  has  spent  a  whole  life  in  literary  pursuits,  and 
in  studying  and  preaching  God's  word,  listens  to  those 
slaves  with  their  comparatively  limited  acquaintance  with 
the  Bible,  and  feels  humble  to  think  that  faith  and  good 
ness  in  himself  should  bear  no  greater  proportion  to  his 
knowledge.  It  is  an  encouragement  to  all  missionaries 
among  the  heathen  not  to  make  literature  or  theoretical 
instruction  even  in  religion  take  precedence  of  simple 
preaching ;  there  is  a  knowledge  of  God  imparted  to  the 
heart  that  loves  him  which  far  surpasses  the  instruction 
of  man's  wisdom. 

These  slaves  are  a  rebuke  to  certain  members  of 
churches,  men  of  cultivated  minds,  literary  taste,  or 
general  refinement,  who  are  so  apt  to  decline  when 
called  upon  in  religious  meetings  to  make  remarks  or 
lead  in  prayer.  The  very  men  who,  in  many  respects, 
would  be  most  acceptable  and  useful  in  these  services, 
generally  are  made  so  sensitive  by  intellectual  and  social 
cultivation,  that  they  add  nothing  to  the  spiritual  inter 
ests  of  a  church.  It  is  a  sad  contrast,  a  professor  in  a 
college,  for  example,  sitting  silent  for  years  in  the  de 
votional  meetings  of  his  church,  and  a  poor  slave,  who 
cannot  pray  grammatically,  so  wrestling  with  God  in 
prayer  as  to  make  one  say  of  him,  "  As  a  prince  hast 
thou  power  with  God  and  with  men."  Sometimes  the 


58  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

ordinary  low  responses  of  fellow-worshipers  in  the 
Methodist  prayer  meetings  would  be  excited,  by  seraphic 
expressions  in  the  prayer  of  a  slave  brother,  to  such  a 
pitch  as  to  raise  involuntary  shoutings  from  the  whole 
meeting,  in  which  I  almost  wished  to  join,  for  the  thoughts 
expressed  were  so  awakening  and  elevating  that,  "or 
ever  I  was  aware,  my  soul  made  me  like  the  chariots  of 
Amminadib." 

Let  us  not  fail  to  recognize  this  indisputable  truth, 
that  the  restriction  laid  upon  publicly  teaching  the 
slaves  to  read  has  stimulated  Christain  zeal  and  benev 
olence,  so  that  nowhere  in  our  country  are  greater  pains 
taken  than  at  the  south  to  instruct  the  lower  classes. 
Love  to  the  souls  of  men  will  find  or  make  access  to 
them.  The  negroes  are  made  to  commit  passages  of 
Scripture  more  generally  than  in  our  Sabbath  schools ; 
pains  are  taken  with  them  which  under  other  circum 
stances  they  would  not  receive. 

How  frequently  at  the  north,  for  example,  can  we 
find  a  scene  like  this  ?  —  a  Christian  master,  surrounded 
every  morning  by  fifty  laborers  in  his  employ  hearing 
the  Bible  read,  repeating  passages  which  were  given  out 
the  preceding  day,  singing,  and  praying,  and  then  going 
forth  to  their  labor.  Such  scenes  do  occur,  and  are 
becoming  more  frequent  at  the  south. 

A  lady  of  wealth  and  refinement  at  the  south  collects 
the  mothers  among  her  servants,  and  forms  them  into  a 
maternal  association,  reads  to  them  on  the  subject  of 
education,  and  encourages  them  to  talk  freely  with  her 
and  with  each  other  on  their  duties  to  their  children. 
This  is  only  a  specimen  of  the  efforts  of  pious  women  at 
the  south  in  behalf  of  the  slaves. 

How  wrong  it  is,  in  blaming  the  south  for  not  giving 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  59 

the  Bible  to  the  slaves  without  restriction,  to  shut  our 
eyes  against  these  things  !  Let  the  tongue  be  palsied  that 
will  justify  the  shutting  up  of  the  book  of  God  from  a 
human  being ;  but  virtually  this  is  not  done  at  the  south. 
The  negroes  are  as  faithfully  and  thoroughly  instructed 
in  the  word  of  God  as  any  class  of  people.  It  is  true 
of  them,  as  the  Catechism  says,  that  "  the  Spirit  of  God 
maketh  —  especially  the  preaching  of  the  word  an  effect 
ual  means  of  convicting  and  converting  sinners,  and 
of  building  them  up  in  holiness  and  comfort  through 
faith  unto  salvation."  The  time  must  come  when  every 
slave  can  read  the  Bible ;  but  if  one  declares  that  the 
withholding  of  it  is  fatal,  it  may  be  asked,  How  were  men 
saved  before  the  art  of  printing  made  copies  of  the  Bible 
generally  accessible  ?  Multitudes  of  our  British  ances 
tors  learned  the  way  to  heaven  who  never  owned  a  copy 
of  the  Scriptures.  Those  words,  unintelligible  to  many, 
in  the  title  pages  of  Bibles,  —  "appointed  to  be  read  in 
churches,"  —  show  how  the  people  in  those  days  obtained 
their  knowledge  of  the  sacred  oracles.  The  slaves  are 
far  better  off  than  they.  Large  numbers  of  them  can 
read,  and  are  furnished  with  the  Scriptures,  and  have  as 
good  facility  in  quoting  Scripture  in  their  prayers  as 
Christians  generally. 

All  this  is  perfectly  obvious  to  any  one  with  a  com 
mon  degree  of  fairness  and  candor ;  but  still  the  whole 
Bible  committed  to  memory  is  not  so  available  for 
spiritual  comfort  and  profit  as  to  have  the  book  in  your 
hand ;  to  have  the  attention  arrested  and  fixed  by  the 
sight  of  a  passage  ;  to  look  upon  the  words,  and  to  search 
the  Scriptures,  rather  than  the  memory.  When  the 
Book  of  books  can  be  furnished  —  the  New  Testament 
for  six  cents,  and  the  whole  Bible  for  fifteen  —  it  must 


60  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

be  a  peremptory  reason  indeed  that  will  justify  us  in 
not  bestowing  it  upon  our  fellow-men.  But  we  shall 
resume  this  topic  in  another  connection. 

Of  all  the  situations  in  which  human  beings  can  be 
placed  favorable  to  the  salvation  of  the  soul,  under  faith 
ful  efforts  on  the  part  of  teachers,  it  is  difficult  to  conceive 
of  one  better  suited  to  this  end,  and  in  fact  more  suc 
cessful  than  the  relation  of  these  slaves  to  their  Christian 
masters.  It  seemed  as  though  human  influence  went 
further  toward  effecting  the  reception  of  the  gospel  by 
the  slaves  than  in  any  other  cases.  Suppose  a  family 
of  them  bound  to  their  master  by  affection  and  respect. 
Whatever  he  can  make  appear  to  their  understandings 
and  consciences  to  be  right,  he  has  as  much  power  to 
enforce  upon  them  as  ever  falls  within  the  power  of 
moral  suasion.  So  it  is,  indeed,  with  pious  military  and 
naval  commanders,  and  their  soldiers  and  sailors ;  sub 
ordination,  attended  with  respect  and  love,  opens  the 
widest  door  for  persuasion ;  and  if  the  numbers  of  pious 
slaves  are  an  indication,  it  must  be  confessed  that  slave 
owners,  as  a  body,  have  performed  their  Christian  duties 
to  their  slaves  to  a  degree  which  the  masters  of  free 
apprentices  and  the  employers  of  free  laborers  have  as 
yet  hardly  equaled. 


We  have  thus  far  looked  at  the  slaves  apart  from 
the  theory  of  slavery  and  from  slave  laws,  and  from 
their  liability  to  suffering  by  being  separated  and  sold. 
These  features  of  slavery  deserve  to  be  considered  by 
themselves  ;  we  can  give  them  and  things  of  that  class  a 
more  just  weight,  and  view  the  favorable  circumstances 
of  their  condition  with  greater  candor.  This  I  have 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  61 

endeavored  to  do,  describing  every  tiling  just  as  it  struck 
me,  leaving  out  of  the  question  the  evils  of  slavery,  and 
abstract  doctrines  respecting  it. 

It  will  not  be  forgotten  that  I  am  describing  the  ap 
pearance  of  things  in  a  portion  of  southern  society  under 
the  highest  cultivation.  There  is,  then,  a  large  part  of 
the  slaveholding  community  in  which  the  appearance 
of  the  slaves  makes  agreeable  impressions  upon  a 
stranger. 

Judging  of  them  as  you  meet  them  in  the  streets,  see 
them  at  work,  or  at  church,  or  in  their  prayer  meetings 
and  singing  meetings,  or  walking  on  the  Sabbath  or 
holidays,  one  must  see  that  they  are  a  happy  people, 
their  physical  condition  superior  to  that  of  very  many 
of  our  operatives,  far  superior  to  the  common  Irish 
people  in  our  cities,  and  immeasurably  above  thousands 
in  Great  Britain. 

Were  their  condition  practically  all  that  many  im 
agine,  one  thing  is  certain,  viz.,  insanity  would  pre 
vail  among  them  to  an  alarming  extent.  Corroding 
care,  unmitigated  sorrows,  fear,  and  all  the  natural 
effects  of  physical  suffering,  would  produce  the  same 
results  of  insanity  with  them  as  with  corresponding 
classes  among  ourselves.  It  is  well  known  that  the  cen 
sus  for  1840  was  erroneous  with  regard  to  insanity  and 
other  diseases,  as  was  ably  shown  by  the  American 
Statistical  Association  of  Boston  in  a  memorial  to  Con 
gress.  Making  the  largest  allowances,  it  is  still  true  that 
the  comparative  number  of  the  insane  among  the  slaves 
is  exceedingly  small. 

As  responsibility,  anxiety  about  the  present  and  fu 
ture,  are  the  chief  enemies  to  cheerfulness,  and,  among 
mental  causes,  to  health,  it  is  obvious  that  if  one  can 


62  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

have  all  his  present  wants  supplied,  with  no  care  about 
short  crops,  the  markets,  notes  payable,  bills  due,  be  re 
lieved  from  the  necessity  of  planning  and  contriving,  all 
the  hard  thinking  being  done  for  him  by  another,  while 
useful  and  honorable  employment  fills  his  thoughts  and 
hands,  he  is  so  far  in  a  situation  favorable  to  great  com 
fort  which  will  show  itself  in  his  whole  outer  man. 
Some  will  say,  "  This  is  the  lowest  kind  of  happiness." 
Yet  it  is  all  that  a  large  portion  of  the  race  seek  for ; 
and  few,  except  slaves,  obtain  it.  Thus  far  I  am  con 
strained  to  say,  that  the  relief  which  my  feelings  have 
experienced  in  going  to  the  south  and  seeing  the  slaves 
at  home  is  very  great.  Whatever  else  may  be  true  of 
their  condition,  to  whatever  perils  or  sorrows,  from 
causes  not  yet  spoken  of,  they  may  be  subjected,  I  feel 
like  one  who  has  visited  a  friend  who  is  sick  and  report 
ed  to  be  destitute  and  extremely  miserable,  but  has  found 
him  comfortable  and  happy.  The  sickness  is  there,  but 
the  patient  is  not  only  comfortable,  but  happy,  if  the  ordi 
nary  proofs  of  it  are  to  be  taken.  We  may  wonder 
that  he  should  be  ;  we  may  prove  on  paper  that  he  can 
not  be  ;  but  if  the  colored  people  of  Savannah,  Colum 
bia,  and  Richmond  are  not,  as  a  whole,  a  happy  people, 
I  have  never  seen  any. 

Much  remains  to  be  told.  Cases  illustrating  the  op 
posite  of  almost  every  agreeable  statement  now  made 
could  also  be  multiplied  ;  still  the  things  just  described 
are  as  represented,  and  he  is  not  in  a  healthful  state  of 
mind  who  cannot  appreciate  them.  Our  error  has  been 
in  mixing  the  dark  and  bright  parts  of  slavery  together. 
This  is  wrong.  We  should  never  lose  sight  of  dis 
tinct  moral  qualities  in  character,  as  we  do  of  different 
colors  in  mixing  paint.  Let  us  judge  Slavery  in  this 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  63 

manner ;  let  us  keep  her  different  qualities  distinct  — 
abhor  that  in  her  which  is  evil,  rejoice  in  that  which  is 
good. 

It  so  happened  that  my  observations  of  things,  and 
my  reflections  thus  far,  as  well  as  those  which  follow, 
occurred  very  much  in  the  order  of  my  narrative.  I 
had  been  at  the  south  four  or  five  weeks  before  any 
thing  presented  itself  to  my  mind  that  excited  painful 
feelings  ;  but  at  length  it  came. 
5 


64:  A    SOUTH-SIDE   VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 


CHAPTER    VII. 

REVOLTING  FEATURES  OF  SLAVERY. 

SECTION  I.  —  Slave  Auctions. 

PASSING  up  the  steps  of  a  court-house  in  a  south 
ern  town  with  some  gentlemen,  I  saw  a  man  sitting  on 
the  steps  with  a  colored  infant,  wrapped  in  a  coverlet, 
its  face  visible,  and  the  child  asleep. 

It  is  difficult  for  some  who  have  young  children  not  to 
bestow  a  passing  look  or  salutation  upon  a  child ;  but  be 
sides  this,  the  sight  before  me  seemed  out  of  place  and 
strange. 

"  Is  the  child  sick  ?  "  I  said  to  the  man,  as  I  was  going 
up  the  steps. 

"  No,  master ;  she  is  going  to  be  sold." 

"  Sold !     Where  is  her  mother  ?  " 

"  At  home,  master." 

"How  old  is  the  child?" 

"  She  is  about  a  year,  master." 

"You  are  not  selling  the  child,  of  course.  How 
comes  she  here  ?  " 

"  I  don't  know,  master ;  only  the  sheriff  told  me  to  sit 
down  here  and  wait  till  twelve  o'clock,  sir." 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  my  heart  died  with 
in  me.  Now  I  had  found  slavery  in  its  most  awful 
feature  —  the  separation  of  a  child  from  its  mother. 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  65 

'"  The  mother  is  at  home,  master."  What  are  her  feel 
ings  ?  What  were  they  when  she  missed  the  infant  ? 
Was  it  taken  openly,  or  by  stealth  ?  Who  has  done  this  ? 
What  shape,  what  face  had  he  ?  The  mother  is  not 
dead  ;  "  the  mother  is  at  home,  master."  What  did  they 
do  to  you,  Rachel,  weeping  and  refusing  to  be  com 
forted  ? 

Undetermined  whether  I  would  witness  the  sale, 
whether  I  could  trust  myself  in  such  a  scene,  I  walked 
into  a  friend's  law  office,  and  looked  at  his  books.  I 
heard  the  sheriff's  voice,  the  "public  outcry,"  as  the 
vendue  is  called,  but  did  not  go  out,  partly  because  I 
would  not  betray  the  feelings  which  I  knew  would 
be  awakened. 

One  of  my  friends  met  me  a  few  minutes  after,  who 
had  witnessed  the  transaction. 

"  You  did  not  see  the  sale,"  he  said. 
"  No.  Was  the  child  sold  ?  " 
"  Yes,  for  one  hundred  and  forty  dollars." 
I  could  take  this  case,  so  far  as  I  have  described  it,  go 
into  any  pulpit  or  upon  any  platform  at  the  north,  and 
awaken  the  deepest  emotions  known  to  the  human  heart, 
harrow  up  the  feelings  of  every  father  and  mother,  and 
make  them  pass  a  resolution  surcharged  with  all  the 
righteous  indignation  which  language  can  express.  All 
that  any  speaker  who  might  have  preceded  me,  sup 
posing  the  meeting  to  be  one  for  discussion,  might  have 
said  respecting  the  contentment,  good  looks,  happy  re 
lations  of  the  slaves,  I  could  have  rendered  of  no  avail 
to  his  argument  by  this  little  incident.  No  matter  what 
kindness  may  be  exercised  in  ten  thousand  instances ;  a 
system  in  which  the  separation  of  an  infant  from  its  moth 
er  is  an  essential  element  can  not  escape  reprobation. 


66  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

On  relating  what  I  had  seen  to  some  southern  ladies, 
they  became  pale  with  emotion ;  they  were  silent ;  they 
were  filled  with  evident  distress.  But  before  remark 
ing  upon  this  case,  I  will  give  another.  My  attention 
was  arrested  by  the  following  advertisement :  — 

"  Guardian's  Sale. 

"  "Will  be  sold  before  the  court-house  door  in ,  on 

the  first  Tuesday  in  May  next,  agreeably  to  an  order  of 

the  ordinary  of county,  the  interest  of  the  minors 

of ,  in  a  certain  negro  girl  named ,  said  inter 
est  being  three  fourths  of  said  negro." 

Three  fourths  of  a  negro  girl  to  be  sold  at  auction ! 
There  was  something  here  which  excited  more  than  or 
dinary  curiosity  :  the  application  of  vulgar  fractions  to 
personal  identity  was  entirely  new.  I  determined  to 
witness  this  sale. 

An  hour  before  the  appointed  time,  I  saw  the  girl 
sitting  alone  on  the  steps  of  the  court-house.  She  wore 
a  faded  but  tidy  orange-colored  dress,  a  simple  hand 
kerchief  on  her  head,  and  she  was  barefoot.  Her  head 
was  resting  upon  her  hand,  with  her  elbow  on  her  knee. 
I  stood  unperceived  and  looked  at  her.  Poor,  lonely 
thing,  waiting  to  be  sold  on  the  steps  of  that  court-house ! 
The  place  of  justice  is  a  bleak  promontory,  from  which 
you  look  off  as  upon  a  waste  of  waters  —  a  dreary,  shore 
less  waste.  What  avails  every  mitigation  of  slavery  ? 
Had  I  become  a  convert  to  the  system,  here  is  enough 
to  counterbalance  all  my  good  impressions. 

The  sheriff  arrived  at  noon,  and  the  people  assem 
bled.  The  purchaser  was  to  have  the  services  of  the 
girl  three  fourths  of  the  time,  a  division  of  property 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  67 

having  given  some  one  a  claim  to  one  fourth  of  her 
appraised  value. 

The  girl  was  told  to  stand  up.  She  had  a  tall,  slen 
der  form,  and  was,  in  all  respects,  an  uncommonly  good- 
looking  child. 

The  bidding  commenced  at  two  hundred  dollars,  and 
went  on  in  an  animated  and  exciting  manner. 

The  girl  began  to  cry,  and  wiped  her  tears  with  the 
back  of  her  hand ;  no  one  replied  to  her ;  the  bidding 
went  on  ;  she  turned  her  back  to  the  people.  I  saw  her 
shoulders  heave  with  her  suppressed  crying;  she  said 
something  in  a  confused  voice  to  a  man  who  sat  behind 
the  auctioneer. 

When  I  was  young  I  was  drawn,  by  mingling  with 
some  older  schoolmates,  strongly  against  my  will,  and 
every  moment  purposing  an  escape,  to  see  a  youth  exe 
cuted  for  arson.  I  resolved  that  I  would  never  look 
upon  such  a  sight  again.  But  here  I  was  beholding 
something  which  moved  me  as  I  had  not  been  moved 
for  all  these  long  years. 

She  was  fourteen  years  old.  A  few  days  before  I 
had  sent  to  a  child  of  mine,  entering  her  fourteenth 
year,  a  birthday  gift.  By  this  coincidence  I  was  led 
to  think  of  this  slave  girl  with  some  peculiar  feelings. 
I  made  the  case  my  own.  She  was  a  child  to  parents, 
living  or  dead,  whose  hearts,  unless  perverted  by  some 
unnatural  process,  would  yearn  over  her  and  be  dis 
tracted  by  this  sight. 

Four  hundred  and  forty-five  dollars  was  the  last  bid, 
and  the  man  sitting  behind  the  sheriff  said  to  her  kindly, 
"  Well,  run  and  jump  into  the  wagon." 

A  large  number  of  citizens  had  assembled  to  witness 
the  sale  of  this  girl ;  some  of  them  men  of  education 


68  A    SOUTH-SIDE   VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

and  refinement,  humane  and  kind.  On  any  question  of 
delicacy  and  propriety,  in  every  thing  related  to  the 
finest  sentiments,  I  would  have  felt  it  a  privilege  to  learn 
of  them.  How  then,  I  said  to  myself  as  I  watched 
their  faces,  can  you  look  upon  a  scene  like  this  as  upon 
an  ordinary  business  transaction,  when  my  feelings  are 
so  tumultuous,  and  all  my  sensibilities  are  excruciated? 
You  are  not  hard-hearted  men ;  you  are  gentle  and 
generous.  In  my  intercourse  with  you  I  have  often  felt, 
in  the  ardor  of  new  friendships,  how  happy  I  should  be 
to  have  you  in  my  circle  of  immediate  friends  at  home  ; 
what  ornaments  you  would  be  to  any  circle  of  Christian 
friends.  Some  of  you  are  graduates  of  Yale  College ; 
some  of  Brown  University :  you  know  all  that  I  know 
about  the  human  heart :  I  hesitate  to  believe  that  I  am 
right  and  you  wrong.  If  to  sell  a  human  being  at  auction 
were  all  which  I  feel  it  to  be,  you  must  know  it  as  well 
as  I.  Yet  I  cannot  yield  my  convictions.  Why  do  we 
differ  so  in  our  feelings  ?  Instances  of  private  humanity 
and  tenderness  have  satisfied  me  that  you  would  not  lay 
one  needless  burden  upon  a  human  being,  nor  see  him 
suffer  without  redress.  Is  it  because  you  are  used  to 
the  sight  that  you  endure  it  with  composure  ?  or  be 
cause  it  is  an  essential  part  of  a  system  which  you  groan 
under  but  cannot  remove  ? 

To  begin  with  the  sale  of  the  infant.  During  my 
stay  in  the  place,  three  or  four  estimable  gentlemen  said 
to  me,  each  in  private,  "  I  understand  that  you  saw  that 
infant  sold  the  other  day.  We  are  very  sorry  that  you 
happened  to  see  it.  Nothing  of  the  kind  ever  took  place 
before  to  our  knowledge,  and  we  all  feared  that  it  would 
make  an  unhappy  impression  upon  you." 

The  manner  in  which  this  was  said  affected  me  almost 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  69 

as  much  as  the  thing  which  had  given  occasion  to  it. 
Southern  hearts  and  consciences,  I  felt  reassured,  were 
no  more  insensible  than  mine.  The  system  had  not 
steeled  the  feelings  of  these  gentlemen ;  the  presence  of 
a  northerner,  a  friend,  retaining  his  private,  natural  con 
victions,  as  they  perceived,  without  unkindness  of  words 
or  manner,  made  them  look  at  the  transaction  with  his 
eyes ;  every  kind  and  generous  emotion  was  alive  in 
their  hearts  ;  they  felt  that  such  a  transaction  needed 
to  be  explained  and  justified. 

How  could  they  explain  it  ?  How  could  they  justify 
it  ?  With  many,  if  not  with  all  of  my  readers,  it  is  a 
foregone  conclusion,  as  it  had  been  with  me,  that  the  case 
admits  of  no  explanation  or  justification. 

I  received,  as  I  said,  three  or  four  statements  with 
regard  to  the  case,  and  this  is  the  substance  of  them :  — 

The  mother  of  this  infant  belonged  to  a  man  who  had 
become  embarrassed  in  his  circumstances,  in  consequence 
of  which  the  mother  was  sold  to  another  family  in  the 
same  place,  before  the  birth  of  the  child ;  but  the  first 
owner  still  laid  claim  to  the  child,  and  there  was  some 
legal  doubt  with  regard  to  his  claim.  He  was  disposed 
to  maintain  this  claim,  and  it  became  a  question  how  the 
child  should  be  taken  from  him.  A  legal  gentleman, 
whose  name  is  familiar  to  the  country,  told  me  that  he 
was  consulted,  and  he  advised  that  through  an  old  execu 
tion  the  child  should  be  levied  upon,  be  sold  at  auction, 
and  thus  be  removed  from  him.  The  plan  succeeded. 
The  child  was  attached,  advertised,  and  offered  for  sale. 
The  mother's  master  bought  it,  at  more  than  double  the 
ratable  price,  and  the  child  went  to  its  mother. 

Nor  was  this  all.  In  the  company  of  bidders  there 
was  a  man  employed  by  a  generous  lady  to  attend  the 


70  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

sale,  and  see  that  the  infant  was  restored  to  its  mother. 
The  lady  had  heard  that  the  sale  was  to  take  place,  but 
did  not  fully  know  the  circumstances,  and  her  purpose 
was  to  prevent  the  child  from  passing  from  the  parent. 
Accordingly  her  agent  and  the  agent  of  the  mother's 
master  were  bidding  against  each  other  for  some  time, 
each  with  the  same  benevolent  determination  to  restore 
the  child  to  its  mother. 

Rachel  was  comforted.  Rather  she  had  had  no  need 
of  being  comforted,  for  the  sheriff  was  in  this  case  to  be 
her  avenger  and  protector.  Here  was  slavery  restoring 
a  child  to  its  mother  ;  here  was  a  system  which  can 
deal  in  unborn  children,  redressing  its  own  wrong. 
Moreover,  the  law  which  forbids  the  sale  of  a  child  un 
der  five  years  was  violated,  in  order  to  keep  the  child 
with  its  mother.  The  man  who  had  the  claim  on  the 
unborn  child  was  from  Connecticut. 

Had  I  not  known  the  sequel  of  the  story,  what  a 
thrilling,  effective  appeal  could  I  have  made  at  the 
north  by  the  help  of  this  incident.  Then  what  injustice 
I  should  have  inflicted  upon  the  people  of  that  place ; 
what  stimulus  might  I  have  given  to  the  rescue  of  a  fu 
gitive  slave  ;  what  resuscitation  to  the  collapsing  vocab 
ulary  of  epithets.  How  might  I  have  helped  on  the  dis 
solution  of  the  Union ;  how  have  led  half  our  tribes  to 
swear  that  they  would  have  war  with  the  rest  forever, 
when  in  truth  the  men  and  women  who  had  done  this 
thing  had  performed  one  of  the  most  tender  and  humane 
actions,  and  did  prevent,  and,  if  necessary,  with  their 
earthly  all,  (for  I  knew  them  well,)  would  have  prevented 
that  from  ever  taking  place  to  which,  in  my  ignorance 
and  passion,  I  should  have  sworn  that  I  could  bear  wit 
ness — an  infant  taken  from  its  mother's  breast  and  sold. 


A    SOUTH-SIDE   VIEW    OF    SLAVE11Y.  71 

The  "  three  fourths  "  of  the  girl  were  bought  by  the 
owner  of  the  other  fourth,  who  already  had  possession 
of  her.  The  sale  took  place  that  he  might  be  her  sole 
owner.  That  word  which  followed  the  sale,  "  Well,  run 
and  jump  into  the  wagon,"  was  music  to  the  child.  I 
understood  afterward  why  she  turned  her  back  to  the 
crowd,  and  looked  at  the  man  who  sat  behind  the  sheriff. 
lie  was  her  master,  and  he  owned  her  mother ;  the  girl 
heard  the  bidding  from  the  company,  and  heard  her  mas 
ter  bidding;  the  conflict  she  understood;  she  was  at 
stake,  as  she  felt,  for  life ;  it  took  some  time  for  the  bid 
ding  to  reach  four  hundred  dollars  ;  hope  deferred  made 
her  heart  sick ;  she  turned  and  kept  her  eye  on  her 
master,  to  see  whether  he  would  suffer  himself  to  be 
defeated.  He  sat  quietly  using  his  knife  upon  a  stick,  like 
one  whose  mind  was  made  up  ;  the  result  of  the  sale  in 
his  favor  excited  no  new  feeling  in  him  ;  but  the  ready 
direction,  "  Well,  run  and  jump  into  the  wagon,"  was  as 
much  as  to  say,  I  have  done  what  I  meant  to  do  when  I 
came  here. 

I  did  not  see  "  Jacob,"  forty-five  years  of  age,  well 
recommended,  who  was  advertised  to  be  sold  at  the  same 
time  and  place.  The  sheriff  announced  that  the  sale  of 
Jacob  was  merely  to  perfect  a  title.  There  was  only 
one  bid,  therefore  —  six  hundred  dollars  ;  the  owner 
thus  going  through  a  form  to  settle  some  legal  question. 

We  are  all  ready  to  inquire  as  to  the  views  and  feel 
ings  of  good  men  at  the  south  with  regard  to  the  sale  of 
slaves  at  auction.  I  felt  great  curiosity  to  know  how 
some  of  the  best  of  men  regarded  it. 

1.  They  say  that  very  many  of  the  slaves  advertised 
with  full  descriptions,  looking  like  invitations  to  buy,  are 
merely  legal  appointments  to  determine  claims,  settle 


72  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

estates,  without  any  purpose  to  let  the  persons  offered 
for  sale  pass  from  the  families  to  which  they  belong. 

It  was  some  relief  to  know  as  much  as  this.  At  home 
and  at  the  south  advertisements  in  southern  papers  of 
negroes  for  sale  at  auction,  describing  them  minutely, 
have  often  harrowed  our  feelings.  The  minute  descrip 
tion,  they  say,  is,  or  may  be,  a  legal  defence  in  the  way 
of  proof  and  identification. 

2.  However  trying  a  public  sale  may  be  to  the 
feelings  of  the  slave,  they  say  that  it  is  for  his  interest 
that  the  sale  should  be  public. 

The  sale  of  slaves  at  auction  in  places  where  they  are 
known  —  and  this  is  the  case  every  where  except  in  the 
largest  cities  —  excites  deep  interest  in  some  of  the  citi 
zens  of  that  place.  They  are  drawn  to  the  sale  with 
feelings  of  personal  regard  for  the  slaves,  and  are  vigi 
lant  to  prevent  unprincipled  persons  from  purchasing 
and  carrying  them  away,  and  even  from  possessing  them 
in  their  own  neighborhood.  I  know  of  citizens  com 
bining  to  prevent  such  men  from  buying,  and  of  their 
contributing  to  assist  good  men  and  women  in  purchas 
ing  the  servants  at  prices  greatly  increased  by  such  com 
petition.  In  all  such  cases  the  law  requiring  and  regu 
lating  public  sales  and  advertisements  of  sales  prevents 
those  private  transfers  which  would  defeat  the  good  in 
tentions  of  benevolent  men.  It  is  a$  extremely  rare 
case  for  a  servant  or  servants  who  have  been  known  in 
town  to  be  removed  into  hands  which  the  people  of  the 
place  generally  would  not  approve. 

The  sale  of  a  negro  at  public  auction  is  not  a  reckless, 
unfeeling  thing  in  the  towns  at  the  south,  where  the 
subjects  of  the  sale  are  from  among  themselves.  In 
settling  estates,  good  men  exercise  as  much  care  with 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  73 

regard  to  the  disposition  of  the  slaves  as  though  they 
were  providing  homes  for  white  orphan  children ;  and 
that  too  when  they  have  published  advertisements  of 
slaves  in  such  connections  with  horses  and  cattle,  that, 
when  they  arc  read  by  a  northerner,  his  feelings  are 
excruciated.  In  hearing  some  of  the  best  of  men,  such 
as  are  found  in  all  communities,  largely  intrusted  with 
the  settlement  of  estates,  men  of  extreme  fairness  and 
incorruptible  integrity,  speak  of  the  word  "chattel"  as 
applied  to  slaves,  it  is  obvious  that  this  unfeeling  law 
term  Las  no  counterpart  in  their  minds,  nor  in  the  feel 
ings  of  the  community  in  general. 

Slaves  are  allowed  to  find  masters  and  mistresses  who 
will  buy  them.  Having  found  them,  the  sheriffs'  and 
administrators'  sales  must  by  law  be  made  public,  the 
persons  must  be  advertised,  and  every  thing  looks  like 
an  unrestricted  offer,  while  it  is  the  understanding  of 
the  company  that  the  sale  has  really  been  made  in 
private. 

Sitting  in  the  reading-room  of  a  hotel  one  morning,  I 
saw  a  colored  woman  enter  and  courtesy  to  a  gentleman 
opposite. 

"  Good  morning,  sir.     Please,  sir,  how  is  Ben  ?  " 
"  Ben  —  lie  is  very  well.     But  I  don't  know  you." 
"  Ben  is  my  husband.     I  heard  you  were  in  town, 
and  I  want  you  to  buy  me.     My  mistress  is  dead  these 
three  weeks,  and  the  family  is  to  be  broken  up." 
"  Well,  I  will  buy  you.     Where  shall  I  inquire  ?  " 
All  this  was  said  and  done  in  as  short  a  time  as  it 
takes  to  read  it ;  but  this  woman  was  probably  obliged 
by  law,  in  the  settlement  of  the  estate,  to  be  advertised 
and  described. 

All  these  things  go  far  to  mitigate  our  feelings  with 


74  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

regard  to  the  sale  of  slaves  at  auction  in  many  cases, 
But  even  with  regard  to  these  cases,  no  one  who  is  not 
used  to  the  sight  will  ever  see  it  but  with  repugnance 
and  distress. 

I  walked  with  a  gentleman,  esteemed  and  honored  by 
his  fellow-citizens,  and  much  intrusted  with  the  settle 
ment  of  estates.  I  knew  that  he  would  appreciate  my 
feelings,  and  I  disclosed  them.  I  asked  him  if  there 
were  no  other  way  of  changing  the  relations  of  slaves 
in  process  of  law,  except  by  exposing  them,  male  and 
female,  at  auction,  on  the  court-house  steps.  I  told  him 
how  I  felt  on  seeing  the  girl  sold,  and  that  the  knowl 
edge  subsequently  of  the  satisfactory  manner  in  which 
the  case  was  disposed  of  did  not  make  me  cease  to  feel 
unhappy.  I  could  not  bear  to  see  a  fellow-being  made 
a  subject  of  sale,  even  in  form;  and  I  wondered  that  any 
one  could  look  upon  it  with  composure,  or  suffer  it  to  be 
repeated  without  efforts  to  abolish  it. 

His  reply  was,  for  substance,  that  so  far  as  he  and  the 
people  of  his  town  were  concerned,  no  case  of  hardship 
in  the  disposal  of  a  slave  had  ever  occurred  there,  to  his 
knowledge ;  that  he  had  settled  a  large  number  of  estates, 
and  in  every  case  had  disposed  of  the  servants  in  ways 
satisfactory  to  themselves ;  that  he  had  prevented  cer 
tain  men  from  bidding  upon  them ;  that  he  had  prevailed 
on  others  not  to  buy,  because  he  and  the  servants  were 
unwilling  to  have  these  men  for  their  masters  ;  and, 
therefore,  that  the  question  was  practically  reduced  to 
the  expediency  of  the  form  of  transfer,  viz.,  by  public 
vendue. 

He  repeated  what  I  have  said  of  the  desirableness  that 
the  sale  or  transfer  should  be  public;  whether  in  a 
room,  or  on  steps,  was  unimportant,  only  that  every 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  75 

public  outcry  was  ordained  to  be  made  at  the  court 
house.  He  also  said  that  the  slaves,  knowing  that  the 
sale  was  a  mere  form,  and  that  they  were  already  dis 
posed  of,  did  not  in  such  cases  suffer  to  the  degree  which 
strangers  supposed. 

It  was  evident,  from  all  that  he  said,  that  he  trans 
fused  his  own  kind,  benevolent  feelings,  and  those  of  his 
fellow-citizens  over  every  sale  within  the  limits  of  his 
town,  and  could  not,  therefore,  see  it  with  a  northerner's 
eyes  and  heart. 

The  forms  of  law  are  as  inconsiderate  of  our  feelings 
as  though  they  were  acts  of  barbarians.  A  sheriff's 
sale  of  house  furniture  in  the  dwelling  of  a  man  who  has 
fallen  from  opulence  into  insolvency  is  like  the  wheel 
of  torture,  that  breaks  every  bone  and  joint  one  by  one. 
The  auctioneer,  with  precious  household  treasures,  keep 
sakes,  memorials  of  dear  departed  friends,  in  one  hand, 
and  a  crumpled  newspaper  for  a  hammer  in  the  other, 
seems  to  be  a  most  unfeeling  man ;  but  he  is  not  so ;  it 
is  law,  of  which  he  is  the  exponent,  that  is  so  terrible. 

No  human  being,  innocent  of  crime,  ought  to  be  sub 
jected  to  the  rack  of  being  offered  for  sale,  nor  ought 
fellow-creatures  ever  to  behold  that  sight.  It  will  be 
done  away.  Reproachful  words,  however,  will  not 
hasten  the  removal  of  it. 

I  once  stated  the  subject  to  a  friend  in  this  form :  "We 
cannot  expect  that  servants  can  abide  in  a  house  for 
ever.  Death  breaks  up  their  relations,  and  they  must 
have  other  masters.  Allowing  all  you  say  of  their  being 
necessarily  a  serving  class,  why  not  always  give  them  a 
voice  in  changing  these  relations  ?  This  is  done  uni 
formly  in  some  of  your  towns.  I  could  name  one  in 
which  no  slave  has  been  disposed  of  otherwise  for  ten 


76  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

years  at  least,  except  in  cases  of  refractory  and  trouble 
some  persons. 

Then  let  opportunity  be  given  for  private  inquiry  and 
examination ;  let  the  transfer  be  made  without  obliging 
the  slave  to  be  present,  and  this  will  approximate  as  far 
as  possible  to  the  method  of  obtaining  servants  at  em 
ployment  offices. 

At  the  Christmas  holidays,  some  of  the  southern 
cities  and  towns  are  alive  with  the  negroes,  in  their  best 
attire,  seeking  employment  for  the  year  to  come,  chan 
ging  places,  and  having  full  liberty  to  suit  themselves  as 
to  their  employers.  The  characters  and  habits  of  all 
the  masters  and  mistresses  are  known  and  freely  dis 
cussed  by  them. 

So,  instead  of  selling  a  family  at  auction  upon  the 
death  of  a  master,  it  is  often  the  case  that  letters  are 
written  for  them  to  people  in  different  States,  where  they 
may  happen  to  have  acquaintances,  perhaps  to  relatives 
of  the  master's  family,  known  and  beloved,  asking  them 
to  buy ;  and  thus  the  family  is  disposed  of  to  the  satis 
faction  of  all  concerned.  Wherever  kindness  prevails, 
the  evils  of  slavery  can  be  made  to  disappear  as  much 
as  from  any  condition,  especially  where  the  servants 
are  worthy. 

But  then  there  are  cases  in  which  the  feelings  of  the 
slave  are  wantonly  disregarded,  and  the  owners  make  no 
distinction,  and  are  incapable  of  making  any,  between  a 
negro  and  a  mule. 

Then  there  are  slaves  who  are  vicious  and  disagreeable, 
whom  their  owners  are  glad  to  sell  out  of  their  sight,  as 
other  men  are  glad  to  be  rid  of  certain  apprentices  or 
refractory  children,  and  feel  happier  the  greater  the 
distance  to  which  they  remove. 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OP    SLAVERY.  77 

Again,  men  in  pecuniary  straits,  in  the  hands  of  a 
broker  or  sheriff,  do  things  which  excruciate  themselves 
as  much  as  their  slaves.  Thus,  in  part,  the  domestic 
slave  trade  is  maintained. 


SECTION  II.  —  Domestic  Slave   Trade. 

A  southern  physician  described  to  me  a  scene  in  the 
domestic  slave  trade.  He  touched  at  a  landing-place  in 
a  steamer,  and  immediately  a  slave  coffle  was  marched 
on  board.  Men,  women,  and  children,  about  forty  in 
all,  two  by  two,  an  ox  chain  passing  through  the  double 
file,  and  a  fastening  reaching  from  the  right  and  left 
hands  of  those  on  either  side  of  the  chain,  composed 
what  is  called  a  slave  coffle.  Some  colored  people  were 
on  the  wharf,  who  seemed  to  be  relatives  and  friends  of 
the  gang.  Such  shrieks,  such  unearthly  noises,  as  re 
sounded  above  the  escape  of  steam,  my  informant  said 
can  not  be  described.  There  were  partings  for  life,  and 
between  what  degrees  of  kindred  the  nature  of  the  cries 
were  probably  a  sign. 

When  the  boat  was  on  her  way,  my  informant  fell 
into  conversation  with  a  distinguished  planter,  with  re 
gard  to  the  scene  which  they  had  just  witnessed.  They 
deplored  it  as  one  of  the  features  of  a  system  which  they 
both  mourned  over,  and  wished  to  abolish,  or  at  least 
correct,  till  no  wrong,  no  pain,  should  be  the  fruit  of  it 
which  is  not  incidental  to  every  human  lot. 

While  they  were  discussing  the  subject,  the  slave- 
dealer  heard  their  talk,  came  up,  and  made  advances  to 
shake  hands  with  the  planter.  The  gentleman  drew 
back*  and  said,  "  Sir,  I  consider  you  a  disgrace  to  human 
nature."  He  poured  scorn  and  indignation  upon  him. 


78  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

He  spoke  the  feelings  of  the  south  generally.  Negro 
traders  are  the  abhorrence  of  all  flesh.  Even  their 
descendants,  when  they  are  known,  and  the  property 
acquired  in  the  traffic,  have  a  blot  upon  them.  I  never 
knew  a  deeper  aversion  to  any  class  of  men ;  it  is  safe 
to  say,  that  generally  it  is  not  surpassed  by  our  feelings 
toward  foreign  slave  traders. 

They  go  into  the  States  where  the  trade  is  not  pro 
hibited  by  law,  find  men  who  are  in  want  of  money,  or 
a  master  who  has  a  slave  that  is  troublesome,  and  for  the 
peace  of  the  plantation  that  slave  is  sold,  sometimes  at 
great  sacrifice  ;  and  there  are  many  of  whom,  under 
pecuniary  pressure,  it  is  not  always  difficult  to  purchase. 

There  are  some  men  whose  diabolical  natures  are 
gratified  by  this  traffic  —  passionate,  cruel,  tyrannical 
men,  seeking  dominion  in  some  form  to  gratify  these  in 
stincts.  The  personal  examinations  which  they  make, 
and  the  written  descriptions  which  they  give,  of  slaves 
whom  they  buy,  are  sometimes  disgusting  in  the  extreme. 
It  is  beyond  explanation  that  good  men  at  the  south  do 
not  clamor  against  this  thing,  till  the  transfer  of  every 
human  being,  if  he  must  be  a  slave,  is  made  with  all  the 
care  attending  the  probate  of  a  will. 

The  charge  of  vilely  multiptying  negroes  in  Vir 
ginia,  is  one  of  those  exaggerations  of  which  this  subject 
is  full,  and  is  reduced  to  this  —  that  Virginia,  being  an 
old  State,  fully  stocked,  the  surplus  black  population 
naturally  flows  off  where  their  numbers  are  less. 

I  heard  this  conversation  at  the  breakfast  house  of  a 
southern  railroad.  As  several  of  us  were  warming  our 
selves  at  the  fire,  one  of  the  passengers  said  to  the  keeper 
of  the  house,  — 

"  Where  is  Alonzo  now  ?  " 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  79 

"  lie  is  in  Alabama." 

"  I  thought  he  had  come  back." 

"  "Well,  he  was  to  come  back  some  time  ago ;  but  they 
keep  sending  him  so  many  negroes  to  sell,  he  can't 
leave." 

Alonzo  is  probably  a  negro  trader  of  the  better  sort ; 
a  mere  agent  or  factor.  If  slaves  are  to  be  sold,  there 
must  be  men  to  negotiate  with  regard  to  them ;  these 
are  not  all  of  the  vilest  sort ;  yet  their  occupation  is 
abhorred. 

The  separation  of  families  seems  to  be  an  inevitable 
feature  of  slavery,  as  it  exists  at  present.  If  a  man  is 
rich  and  benevolent,  he  will  provide  for  his  servants, 
and  tax  himself  to  support  them,  let  their  number  be 
never  so  great,  buying  one  plantation  after  another, 
chiefly  to  employ  his  people.  But  the  time  will  come 
when  he  must  die,  and  his  people  are  deprived  of  his 
protection.  No  one  child,  perhaps,  can  afford  to  keep 
them  together  ;  perhaps  lie  has  no  children ;  then  they 
must  take  their  chance  of  separations  to  the  widest  bor 
ders  of  the  slave  States.  But  here  individual  kindness 
mitigates  sorrow  and  distress.  The  owner  of  several 
plantations  at  the  south,  with  no  children,  has  made  his 
slaves  his  heirs,  on  condition  that  they  remove  to  Liberia. 

It  seems  to  be  taken  for  granted  that  to  be  sold  is 
inevitably  to  pass  from  a  good  to  an  inferior  condition. 
This  is  as  much  a  mistake  as  it  would  be  to  assert  the 
same  of  changes  on  the  part  of  domestic  servants  in  the 
free  States.  There  are  as  good  masters  as  those  whose 
death  makes  it  necessary  to  scatter  the  slaves  of  an 
estate.  The  change  itself  is  not  necessarily  an  evil. 

We  must  remember  that  slaves  are  not  the  only  inhab 
itants,  nor  slave  families  the  only  families,  in  the  land, 
6 


80  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

that  are  scattered  by  the  death  of  others.  Sometimes 
the  demand  seems  to  be  that  slaves  should  be  kept  to 
gether  at  all  events,  and  separations  never  be  permitted. 
This  is  absurd,  upon  the  least  reflection.  No  one  ought 
to  demand  or  expect  for  them  an  experience  better  or 
worse  than  the  common  lot  of  men.  Let  the  slaves  share 
with  us  in  the  common  blessings  and  calamities  of  divine 
providence.  What  would  become  of  our  families  of  five 
or  ten  children  should  their  parents  die  ?  Can  we  keep 
our  children  about  us  always?  Do  none  but  black  children 
go  to  the  ends  of  the  Union  and  become  settled  there  ? 
How  many  white  people  there  are  that  do  this,  who  —  de 
plorable  truth  !  —  cannot  read  and  write,  and  seldom  if 
ever  hear  of  their  relatives  from  whom  they  are  separated. 
Let  us  not  require  too  much  of  slavery.  Let  us  not 
insist  that  the  slaves  shall  never  be  separated,  nor  their 
families  broken  up ;  but  let  it  be  done  as  in  the  course  of 
nature  every  where,  with  no  more  pain,  nor  pain  of  any 
other  kind,  than  must  accrue  to  those  who  depend  upon 
their  own  efforts  for  a  living. 

Facts  connected  with  this  part  of  the  subject  have 
given  me  deep  respect  and  sympathy  for  those  slavehold 
ers  who,  from  the  number  of  instances  which  have  come 
to  my  knowledge,  it  is  evident  are  by  no  means  few,  that 
suffer  hardship  and  loss  in  their  efforts  to  keep  the  mem 
bers  of  their  slave  families  together.  Our  knowledge  of 
distressing  cases,  and  the  indisputable  truth  that  slavery 
gives  the  power  of  disposal  to  the  owner  at  his  will,  no 
doubt  leads  us  to  exaggerate  the  number  of  cases  in 
•which  suffering  is  unjustly  inflicted.  While  we  are  sure 
to  hear  of  distressing  cruelties,  ten  thousand  acts  of 
kindness  are  not  mentioned.  These  can  not  compensate, 
however,  for  the  liability  to  abuse  which  there  is  in 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  81 

authority  almost  absolute ;  but  still  let  us  discriminate 
when  we  bring  charges  against  a  whole  community,  and 
let  us  consider  how  far  the  evils  complained  of  are  insep 
arable,  not  only  from  a  system  which  is  felt  to  be  a  bur 
den,  but  also  from  human  nature  in  every  condition. 

As  was  remarked  with  regard  to  sales  by  auction,  it  is 
in  vain  to  expect  that  painful  separations  of  families  in  a 
wanton  manner,  or  by  stress  of  circumstances,  can  wholly 
cease,  in  the  present  system.  It  is  indeed  a  burdensome 
system,  destroying  itself  by  its  own  weight,  unless  re 
lieved  by  some  of  those  unnatural  and  violent  expedi 
ents.  It  is  deplored  for  this  and  other  reasons  by  mul 
titudes  at  the  south,  whose  voices  we  shall  hear  as  soon 
as  our  relations  as  north  and  south  are  such  as  will 
allow  them  to  speak.  In  the  mean  time,  public  sentiment 
is  fast  correcting  abuses  under  the  system ;  and  not  only 
so,  but  through  its  influence  and  the  power  of  Christian 
love,  the  condition  of  families  and  individuals  among  the 
slaves  is  becoming  here  and  there  as  free  from  evil  as 
human  nature  permits  in  a  dependent  condition. 


82  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

REVOLTING  FEATURES   OF  SLAVERY  — CONTINUED. 
SECTION  III.  —  Homes  of  the  Slaves. 

THE  homes  of  the  slaves  is  a  topic  of  deep  interest, 
bearing  in  a  vital  manner  upon  the  system.  It  can  hardly* 
be  said  in  general  that  slaves  have  regularly  constituted 
homes.  Husbands  and  wives,  in  a  large  proportion  of 
cases,  belong  to  different  masters,  and  reside  on  separate 
plantations,  the  husband  sometimes  walking  several  miles, 
night  and  morning,  to  and  from  his  family,  and  many  of 
them  returning  home  only  on  Saturday  afternoon.  In 
cities,  also,  husbands  and  wives  most  commonly  belong 
to  different  families.  Laboring  apart,  and  having  their 
meals  apart,  the  bonds  of  domestic  life  are  few  and 
weak.  A  slave,  his  wife,  and  their  children,  around  tjiat 
charmed  centre,  a  family  table,  with  its  influences  of 
love,  instruction,  discipline,  humble  as  they  necessarily 
\vould  be,  yet  such  as  God  had  given  them,  are  too  sel 
dom  seen.  To  encourage  and  protect  their  homes  gen 
erally  would  be  in  effect  to  put  an  end  to  slavery  as  it  is. 

It  was  remarked  to  me  by  an  eminent  and  venerable 
physician  at  the  south,  that  maternal  attachments  in 
slave  mothers  are  singularly  shortlived.  Their  pain 
and  grief  at  the  sale  of  their  children,  their  jealousy, 
their  self-sacrificing  efforts  for  them,  are  peculiar ;  but 


A    SOUTH-SIDE   VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  83 

they  are  easily  supplanted.  The  hen,  and  even  the  timid 
partridge,  is  roused  when  her  young  are  in  danger, 
and  her  demonstrations  of  affection  then  are  unsur 
passed.  Yet  in  a  few  weeks  she  will  treat  her  offspring 
as  strangers.  Maternal  instincts  in  slave  mothers  (my 
friend  observed)  were  more  like  this  than  the  ordinary 
parental  feelings  of  white  people. 

I  told  him  that  this  disclosed  to  me  one  of  the  most 
affecting  illustrations  of  slavery,  and  that  I  needed  not 
to  ask  him  for  his  explanation  of  it.  Every  one  can  see, 
not  only  the  probability,  but  the  cause,  of  this  limited 
parental  affection.  From  the  first  moment  of  maternal 
solicitude,  the  idea  of  property  on  the  part  of  the  owner 
in  the  offspring  is  connected  with  the  maternal  instinct. 
It  grows  side  by  side  with  it,  becomes  a  neutralizing  ele 
ment,  prevents  the  inviolable  links  of  natural  affection 
from  reaching  deep  into  the  heart.  We  need  no  slave 
auctions  or  separations  of  families  to  make  us  feel  the 
inherent,  awful  nature  of  the  present  system  of  slavery, 
in  view  of  this  illustration. 

Some  use  it  in  mitigation  of  the  alleged  wrongful- 
ness  of  separating  mothers  and  young  children.  Human 
nature  refuses  to  hear  one  who  is  capable  of  using  such 
an  argument. 

The  same  day  that  my  friend  made  his  remark  to 
me,  I  had  an  accidental  confirmation  of  it  in  the  conver 
sation  of  an  intelligent  landlord,  who  was  telling  me  of 
the  recent  lamentable  death  of  an  old  slave  mother  who 
had  nursed  him  ancl  all  his  brothers  and  sisters.  His 
mother  said  to  the  dying  woman,  "  How  do  you  feel  about 
leaving  your  children  ?  "  for  she  had  several,  who  were 
still  young.  "  0  missis,"  she  said,  "  you  will  take  care 
of  them;  I  don't  mind  them.  I  don't  want  to  leave 


84  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

you,  missis,  and  your  Charley  and  Ann.  What  will 
they  do  without  me,  little  dears  ?"  The  gentleman  men 
tioned  it  as  an  affecting  illustration,  as  it  certainly  is,  of 
the  disinterested  affection  in  these  colored  servants ; 
but  I  felt  that  there  was  something  back  of  all  this. 
Slavery  had  loosened  the  natural  attachments  of  this 
woman  to  her  offspring,  and  those  attachments  had 
sought  and  found  objects  to  grow  upon  in  the  children 
of  another.  There  must  be  something  essentially  wrong 
in  a  system  which  thus  interferes  with  the  nature  which 
God  has  made. 

The  drapery  of  words  is  hardly  sufficient,  perhaps,  to 
clothe  an  idea  which  a  slave  mother  in  one  of  the  best 
of  Christian  families  expressed ;  but  she  was  deprecating 
the  possibility  of  being  a  mother  again.  She  said,  "  You 
feel  when  your  child  is  born  that  you  can't  have  the 
bringing  of  it  up." 

One  evening,  in  a  prayer  meeting  of  slaves,  the  white 
brother  who  presided  read  the  chapter  in  Matthew  con 
taining  the  Lord's  Prayer,  and  asked  me  to  make  some 
remarks.  I  alluded  to  the  Lord's  Prayer,  which  had 
just  been  read,  and  was  proceeding  to  remark  upon  por 
tions  of  it.  I  found  myself  embarrassed,  however,  at 
once,  in  speaking  about  that  overwhelming  name  of  love 
—  Our  Father,  who  art  in  heaven ;  for  it  flashed  upon  me, 
these  slaves,  although  they  have  the  spirit  of  sons,  al 
though  they  cry  u  Abba,  Father,"  as  I  seldom  ever  heard 
other  Christians  use  the  name,  can  not  appreciate  any 
illustrations  of  it  which  I  may  draw  from  earthly  parent 
age;  they  know  the  thing;  the  illustration  they  cannot 
fully  appreciate,  for  in  effect  the  slave  has  no  father. 
He  more  frequently  remembers  his  mother;  but  who  was 
his  father  ?  His  knowledge  of  him  is  far  less  frequent. 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  85 

The  annihilation  by  slavery,  to  a  great  extent,  of  the 
father  in  the  domestic  relations  of  the  slaves,  is  insepa 
rable  from  it,  as  it  exists  at  present. 

Take  a  further  illustration.  I  was  in  a  large  colored 
Sabbath  school.  The  superintendent  at  the  close  gave 
the  scholars  a  kind  word  of  exhortation  to  this  effect : 
"  Now,  children,  I  want  to  repeat  what  I  have  said  to  you 
so  often  ;  you  must  all  try  to  be  good  children,  wherever 
you  are,  remembering  that  you  are  never  out  of  God's 
sight.  If  you  love  and  obey  him,  if  you  are  good  chil 
dren  at  home,  what  a  comfort  you  will  be  to  your"  [I  ex 
pected  the  words  fathers  and  mothers^  "  masters  and  mis 
tresses."  I  felt  as  when  I  have  heard  the  earth  fall  upon 
a  stranger's  coffin ;  it  was  all  correct,  all  kind ;  but  the 
inability  to  use  those  names,  the  perfect  naturalness  with 
which  other  names  came  in  to  iill  the  place  of  father  and 
mother,  brought  to  my  heart  the  truth,  the  slaves  gener 
ally  have  no  homes. 

Living  disintegrated  as  they  now  do,  it  is  easier  to 
transfer  them  from  place  to  place.  Thus  the  prevalence 
of  homes  in  slavery,  regularly  constituted  and  defended, 
would  soon  make  slavery  almost  impracticable,  or  reduce 
it  to  almost  an  unobjectionable  form.  The  red  sandstone 
soil  in  parts  of  the  south  is  destroyed,  large  sections 
being  washed  away,  leaving  a  hard,  clayey  surface.  That 
beautiful  feature  of  New  England,  our  northern  grass, 
does  not  prevail  there,  with  its  thick-set  roots  to  bind 
the  soil.  Homes  among  the  slaves  would  be  to  them 
wrhat  the  grass  would  be  to  the  soil. 
,  Separated  as  they  necessarily  are  under  the  present 
system,  the  relations  of  husbands  and  wives  are  not  so 
inviolable  as  they  otherwise  would  be.  Marriage  among 
the  slaves  is  not  a  civil  contract ;  it  is  formed  and  con- 


86  A    SOUTH-SIDE   VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

tinues  by  permission  of  the  masters ;  it  has  no  binding 
force,  except  as  moral  principle  preserves  it ;  and  it  is 
subject,  of  course,  to  the  changes  of  fortune  on  the  part 
of  the  owners.  This  is  the  theory ;  but  humane  and 
benevolent  hearts  in  every  community  combine  to  modi 
fy  its  operation ;  yet  there  are  cases  of  hardship  over 
which  they  are  compelled  to  weep,  and  very  many  of 
them  do  weep  as  we  should  in  their  places ;  still  the  sys 
tem  remains,  and  now  and  then  asserts  its  awful  power. 

There  is  a  lad  at  the  south  about  fifteen  years  old, 
whose  form,  features,  manners,  and  general  aptitude  in 
terested  me  in  him  very  much,  whose  mother  has  had 
three  husbands  sold  within  three  years.  To  see  him 
while  talking  throw  himself  from  one  seat  to  another, 
and  upon  the  floor,  in  the  abandonment  of  grief,  with 
wailings  cursing  his  birth,  it  would  seem  is  enough  to 
prevent  any  stranger  from  falling  in  love  with  sla 
very.  In  these  three  cases,  straitened  circumstances 
compelled  the  sales. 

Yet  the  cases  of  violent  separation  of  husband  and 
wife  are  not  so  many  as  the  voluntary  and  criminal  sepa 
rations  by  the  parties  themselves.  This,  after  all,  is  the 
chief  evil  connected  with  the  looseness  of  domestic  ties 
in  slavery.  Conjugal  love  among  the  slaves  is  not  inva 
riably  the  poetical  thing  which  amateurs  of  slaves  some 
times  picture  it ;  for  there  are  probably  no  more  happy 
conjugal  unions  among  the  slaves  than  among  the  whites. 

At  the  spring  term,  this  year,  of  the  court  in  one  New 
England  State,  there  were  eighty-three  applications  for 
divorce ;  thirty-three  were  granted,  seven  were  refused, 
and  forty-three  were  reserved  for  consideration.  In 
another  State,  at  the  same  term,  there  were  seventy- 
three  applications;  forty-two  were  granted,  four  were 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  87 

refused,  ami  three  were  settled  ;  the  rest  were  continued. 
Probably  in  no  slave  State  were  there  more  voluntary  sep 
arations  of  husbands  and  wives  among  the  slaves  than  in 
some  of  the  New  England  States  that  could  be  specified 
for  the  same  period.  The  only  difference  is,  the  slave 
does  not  go  to  court  for  his  divorce.  He  absents  him 
self  from  his  cabin,  or  procures  another  master ;  or,  be 
longing  to  the  same  master  with  his  wife,  and  being 
unwilling  to  live  within  possible  hearing  of  her,  he  flees 
to  the  north.  If  he  has  a  good  degree  of  address,  he 
can  rouse  up  the  deep  philanthropy  of  freemen,  like  a 
ground-swell  of  the  sea,  in  overwhelming  pity  and  com 
passion  for  him  ;  while  the  only  unhappiness,  after  all,  in 
his  particular  case,  was,  that  he  could  not  have  laws  to 
countenance  and  defend  him  in  putting  away  his  wife, 
who  had  committed  no  crime,  and  marrying  another. 
The  people  of  those  communities  whose  laws  of  divorce 
are  of  questionable  morality,  will  not,  of  course,  throw 
the  first  stone  at  the  south,  for  that  looseness  in  the  do 
mestic  relations  of  slaves  which  allows  so  many  volunta 
ry  separations. 

I  have  conversed  with  pastors  of  churches  at  the  south 
on  this  subject.  Human  nature  is  the  same  among 
the  whites  as  among  the  blacks,  but  the  mode  of  life 
among  the  slaves  gives  peculiar  facilities  for  vice  ;  the 
separation  of  husbands  and  wives  by  sale  encourages 
them  to  think  lightly  of  mutual  obligations,  and  conju 
gal  faithfulness  for  the  time  yields  easily  to  temptation. 
They  are  faithfully  preached  to  from  the  pulpit  on  the 
subject,  religious  restraints  are  felt,  the  expectation  of 
honorable  marriage  has  influence,  and  it  is  libelous  to 
say  that  there  are  not  very  many  in  the  churches  who 
keep  themselves  pure.  Still  it  is  universally  confessed 


88  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

that  one  prominent  evil  of  slavery  is  seen  in  this.  The 
pastor  of  a  colored  church  says  to  me,  in  a  letter,  "  The 
violation  of  the  law  of  chastity  among  my  congregation 
is  the  besetting  sin.  Of  the  three  hundred  and  seven 
teen  persons  excluded  during  a  certain  period,  as  ap 
pears  by  our  church  books,  two  hundred  were  for  adul 
tery."  But  this  is  a  congregation  in  which  an  unusually 
large  proportion  are  free  blacks.  There  are  restraints 
imposed  upon  slaves  in  this  particular,  in  many  cases, 
which,  of  course,  are  not  felt  by  those  who  are  free. 
Knowing,  as  ministers  in  cities  are  apt  to  do,  the  sta 
tistics  of  crime,  it  would  be  gratifying  if  we  could  assert 
that  our  northern  cities  are  examples  to  the  south  in  all 
goodness.  After  reading  all  that  has  ever  been  written 
respecting  the  sale  and  purchase  of  "  yellow  girls,"  and 
the  extent  to  which  the  sin  alluded  to  prevails  at  the 
south,  you  may  obtain  from  any  experienced  policeman 
in  one  of  our  cities  disclosures  which  will  give  exercise 
to  virtuous  abhorrence  and  indignation  as  great  as  the 
statistics  of  sin  and  misery  elsewhere  can  excite,  unless, 
indeed,  wickedness  at  home  fails  to  exert  the  enchant 
ment  which  belongs  to  other  men's  sins.  What  if  there 
were  some  way  in  which  this  iniquity  in  the  free  States 
proclaimed  itself  as  it  does  through  complexion  at  the 
south  ? 

"  Some  men's  sins  are  open  beforehand,  going  before 
to  judgment,  and  some  men  they  follow  after." 

Christian  public  sentiment  at  the  south  revolts  at  the 
sale  of  one's  own  children  as  instinctively  as  at  the  north, 
and  points  the  finger  at  this  abomination. 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  89 


SECTION  IV.  — Domestic  Evils  deplored  by  the  Whites. 

There  are  evils  pertaining  to  slavery  of  which  none 
are  so  well  aware  as  those  who  are  subjected  to  them ; 
and  therefore  the  free  and  candid  declaration  of  the 
people  at  the  south  upon  this  part  of  the  subject  is  far 
more  convincing  and  satisfactory  than  our  theoretical 
reasonings. 

They  complain  of  the  injurious  effect  of  slave  labor 
upon  the  soil,  there  being  no  motives  with  the  slave  to 
improve  or  preserve  it ;  but  this  is  too  obvious  a  topic 
to  require  a  single  remark. 

Labor  performed  wholly  by  menial  persons  becomes 
disreputable  in  the  eyes  of  children.  Those  who  can 
afford  to  educate  their  children  to  live  in  affluence  are 
not  oppressed  by  this  evil  as  others  are  whose  children 
eschew  trades  and  every  thing  requiring  manual  labor, 
and,  irrespective  of  talent,  must  resort  to  the  army  and 
navy  and  the  learned  professions  for  a  living.  Society 
is  happier  where  a  portion  of  its  own  talent  and  enter 
prise  is  employed  in  the  mechanic  arts.  It  is  the  provi 
dential  arrangement  that  invention  shall  be  the  offspring 
of  labor,  they  who  work  being  those  ordinarily  who  con 
fer  upon  the  world  the  fruits  of  genius  Slaves  invent 
little  or  nothing.  The  healthful  stimulus  of  necessity 
finds  few  heads  or  hands  at  the  south  among  the  labor 
ing  class,  almost  every  thing  necessary  to  quicken  and 
help  labor  being  imported.  It  is  a  serious  evil  which 
parents  in  slave  States  feel,  that  they  do  not  enjoy  the 
privilege  of  employing  the  talents  and  aiding  the  con- 


90  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

stitutions  of  some  of  their  children  by  addicting  them 
at  home  to  the  useful  arts,  which  abound  where  labor  is 
honorable  and  is  rewarded.  Temptations  to  vice,  and  the 
mischiefs  of  an  aimless,  idle  life,  are  the  source  of  great 
solicitude  and  pain  to  many  southern  parents  with  re 
gard  to  their  sons. 

We  greatly  err  when  we  make  this  an  occasion  for 
reproach.  There  is  a  way  of  taunting  the  south  with 
this  and  other  inseparable  inconveniences  and  evils  of 
their  state  of  society  which  is  unkind.  Their  reply 
might  well  be,  "  God  has  given  us  i  a  south  land,'  as 
Caleb  gave  to  his  daughter.  0  that  he  could  give  us  also, 
as  she  requested,  '  springs  of  water.'  Sources  of  refresh 
ment  and  comfort  which  you  at  the  north  enjoy  are, 
some  of  them,  withheld  from  us." 

Were  it  not  for  the  din  and  clamor  of  northern  in 
vectives  against  slavery,  we  should  hear  more  distinct 
ly  the  candid  expressions  of  our  southern  friends  with 
regard  to  evils  in  the  system. 

They  tell  us  —  and  indeed  every  one  sees  it  —  that 
slave  labor  is  in  many  cases  oppressively  expensive,  and 
the  more  so  in  proportion  to  the  conscientiousness  and 
kindness  of  the  owners.  It  takes  more  hands  to  do  the 
same  amount  of  work  than  with  us ;  the  servants  are 
hearty,  and  great  consumers,  frequently  costing  more  for 
their  food  than  the  rest  of  the  family  ;  and  some  of  them 
could  be  dispensed  with,  but  they  came  into  the  family 
in  ways,  perhaps,  which  make  their  owners  unwilling  to 
put  them  away.  This  is  an  evil  in  slavery  of  which  we 
at  the  north  have  very  little  idea,  and  it  does  much  to 
disabuse  a  spectator  of  wrong  impressions  made  by  his 
associations  with  the  word  slavery  and  slave.  One  case 
out  of  many  in  every  southern  town  may  be  mentioned, 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  91 

of  a  matron,  a  widow,  who,  during  her  husband's  life, 
was  in  easy  circumstances ;  but  he  having  left  her  with 
some  colored  women  and  their  children,  she  receives 
boarders  that  she  may  have  means  to  support  these 
blacks,  being  unwilling  to  sell  them,  but  expecting  the 
time  when  she  can  place  them  in  advantageous  situa 
tions.  She  would  pass  at  the  north  under  the  name  of 
"  slaveholder,"  with  all  the  peculiar  associations  with 
that  name  in  the  minds  of  many.  It  was  affecting  to 
hear  her  say,  "  If  our  friends  at  the  north  would  devise 
ways  in  which  we  could  dispose  of  these  poor  people 
for  their  good,  I  should  then  no  longer  be  a  servant  of 
servants." 

There  are,  probably,  few  who  would  not  abstractly 
prefer  free  labor ;  but  what  shall  be  done  with  the  blacks  ? 
There  lias  never  been  a  time  in  the  history  of  our  dis 
cussions  on  this  subject,  when,  if  the  south  had  ex 
pressed  her  willingness  to  part  with  the  slaves,  we  at 
the  north  could  have  agreed  in  what  way  they  should 
have  been  disposed  of.  Who  has  ever  proposed  a  plan 
of  relief  which  could  in  a  good  measure  unite  us  ?  What 
shall  be  done  with  the  blacks  ?  On  the  evils  of  slavery 
all  are  well  informed.  But  as  to  this  essential  question 
we  get  no  light. 


TAKING  all  the  favorable  features  and  all  the  evils  of 
southern  slavery  together  simply  as  to  their  bearing  upon 
the  slave,  it  appears  that,  leaving  out  of  view  the  liabil 
ities  to  separation,  to  be  a  slave  at  the  south  is  an  evil 
or  not  according  to  the  character  or  habits  of  the  master. 
The  master  or  mistress  can  make  the  relation  of  a  slave 


92  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

the  very  best  on  earth  for  one  who  must  be  dependent. 
One  can  not  be  long  at  the  south,  and  not  see  for  himself 
that  the  perfection  of  human  happiness  in  a  serving  class 
is  found  among  certain  slaves.  There  is  nothing  that 
approaches  to  it  except  the  relation  of  certain  servants 
and  dependants  of  noble  families  in  Great  Britain  ;  but 
at  the  south  the  relation  and  the  happiness  do  not  depend 
upon  family  and  wealth ;  every  householder  may  be  a 
master  or  mistress  to  whom  it  will  be  a  privilege  to  be 
long.  Instances  come  to  mind  of  servants  in  whose  con 
dition  nothing  is  wanting  to  promote  happiness  in  this 
world  and  preparation  for  the  next ;  and  the  only  source 
of  disquietude  in  such  cases  you  will  hear  thus  expressed : 
u  Master  may  die,  and  then  I  shall  have  to  be  free.  I 
have  laid  up  money,  and  am  mentioned  in  the  will,  and 
my  free  papers  are  made  out."  Such  servants  sometimes 
select  newr  masters,  and  prevail  on  them  to  buy  them, 
preferring  the  feeling  of  protection,  the  gratification  of 
loving  and  serving  a  white  person,  to  abstract  liberty. 

Then  there  is  another  side  to  this  picture.  It  is  in 
the  power  of  a  master  or  mistress  to  make  the  condition 
of  the  slave  a  perpetual  sorrow.  It  would  be  well  if 
some  men,  and  women  too,  could  be  debarred  by  law 
from  having  authority  over  a  human  being.  One  looks 
with  pity  even  upon  the  animal  that  belongs  to  them. 
Imperative,  fierce,  threatening  in  their  tones,  petulant 
and  cruel  in  their  dispositions,  capricious  and  contradic 
tory  in  their  orders,  and  full  of  scolding,  the  word  and 
blow  coming  together,  they  wear  out  the  patience  of  their 
servants.  No  wonder  that  the  slaves  of  such  men  and 
women  run  away,  that  white  boys  in  similar  circum 
stances  betake  themselves  to  the  sea,  and  girls  elope  or 
go  to  service,  as  a  refuge  from  such  dispositions  and 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  93 

tongues.  A  certain  distinguished  slave  owner  seriously 
entertains  the  desire,  for  which  his  friends  banter  him, 
that  every  one  proposing  to  be  a  slaveholder  shall  bring 
certificates  of  good  temper,  and  be  examined.  To  one 
who  was  a  most  thorough  lover  of  the  system  of  slavery 
I  put  the  question,  in  a  favorable  moment,  "  What,  in 
your  view,  is  the  greatest  objection  that  can  be  made  to 
slavery  ? "  "  0,"  said  he,  "  this  irresponsible  power. 
You  can  not  prevent  its  abuse  while  human  nature  is  what 
it  is.  Good  and  kind  men  and  women  can  make  a  slave 
happier  than  he  could  be  any  where ;  but  certain  mas 
ters  and  mistresses  of  slaves  are  the  worst  of  tyrants." 

There  are  some  men  to  whom  a  negro  is  merely  an  ox 
or  an  ass.  They  buy,  sell,  work,  treat,  talk  about,  their 
"  niggers  "  as  about  cattle —  hard,  sharp,  vulgar  men,  of 
whom  we  have  a  good  idea  in  the  following  extract  from 
the  journal  of  a  traveler  in  Texas,  which  appeared  some 
time  since  in  a  newspaper,  and  which  I  read  and  veri 
fied  at  the  south.  The  writer  says,  — 

"  I  remember,  now,  one  gentleman  of  property  in , 

sitting  with  us  one  night, '  spitting  in  the  fire,'  and  talking 
about  cotton.  Bad  luck  he  had  had  —  only  four  and  a 
half  bales  to  the  hand  ;  couldn't  account  for  it  —  bad 
luck ;  and  next  year  he  didn't  reckon  nothing  else  but 
that  there  would  be  a  general  war  in  Europe,  and  then 
he'd  be  in  a  pretty  fix,  with  cotton  down  to  four  cents  a 
pound.  Curse  those  Turks  !  If  he  thought  there  would 

be  a  general  war,  he  would  take  every nigger  he'd 

got  right  down  to  New  Orleans,  and  sell  them  for  what 
they'd  bring.  They'd  never  be  so  high  again  as  they  are 
now,  and  if  there  should  come  a  general  war  they  wouldn't 
be  worth  half  so  much  next  year.  There  always  were 


94  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

some  infernal  rascals  some  where  in  the  world  trying  to 
prevent  an  honest  man  from  getting  a  living.  0,  if  . 
they  got  to  fighting,  he  hoped  they'd  eat  each  other 
up.  They  just  ought  to  be,  all  of  them  —  Turks,  and 
Russians,  and  Prussians,  and  Dutchmen,  and  French 
men  —  all  of  them  just  be  put  in  a  bag  together,  and 
slung .  That's  what  he'd  do  with  them." 


It  will  generally  be  expected  that  punishment  by 
whipping  should  be  mentioned  among  the  revolting  fea 
tures  of  slavery.  In  a  well-regulated  southern  house 
hold,  as  in  a  well-ordered  family  of  children,  or  a  good 
school,  the  rod  is  out  of  sight.  It  is  seldom  alluded  to ; 
threat enings  are  rare  ;  but  the  knowledge  on  the  part 
of  each  servant,  child,  and  pupil,  that  there  is  a  punish 
ment  in  reserve  for  the  last  resort,  will  have  a  salutary 
effect.  Southern  ladies,  when  they  meet  insolence  or 
disobedience  in  their  slaves,  have  not  our  easy  means  of 
relief  in  dismissing  them  at  once,  and  repairing  to  the 
intelligence  offices  for  others.  They  must  have  them 
punished,  or  they  must  continue  to  bear  with  them,  as 
they  often  do,  with  long  and  exemplary  patience,  shrink 
ing  as  we  should  from  subjecting  them  to  punishment ; 
or  they  must  sell  them,  as  incorrigible,  to  the  slave  trader, 
which  is  far  worse  than  chastisement,  however  severe. 
In  good  hands  this  power  is  exercised  without  abuse. 

This  power  is  also  in  the  hands  of  the  cruel  and  un 
principled,  and  is  fearfully  abused.  Slaves,  however, 
are  not  the  only  subjects  of  these  cruelties,  nor  masters 
of  slaves  the  only  transgressors.  The  following  extract 
taken  from  a  newspaper,  with  remarks  upon  it  by  a 
southern  editor,  are  given  here  partly  for  the  sake  of  a 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  95 

comment  upon  the  strictures  of  the  editor.  Some  of 
his  remarks  are  just.  It  is  the  legislature  of  a  free  State 
which  is  referred  to. 

"  The legislature  has  before  it  an  investigation  into 

the  conduct  of  ,  of  the  state  prison,  who  is  accused 

of  cruelty  toward  a  colored  prisoner  whom  he  suspected 
of  stealing  from  him  three  hundred  dollars.  It  is  alleged 
he  deprived  him  of  his  clothing,  and  confined  him  in  a 
dungeon  without  a  bed  for  sixteen  days.  At  three  .separate 
times  he  was  brought  out.  stripped  to  his  skin,  and  whipped 
with  a  cat  till  his  back  was  cut  to  pieces,  and  the  blood 
made  to  How  from  the  wounds.  In  this  condition  he  was 
put  back  into  his  dark,  damp,  cold  cell,  without  a  bed  or 
particle  of  bedclothes,  to  pass  three  days  and  nights  as 
best  he  could.  At  the  end  of  that  time  he  was  again  taken 
out.  whipped  a.s  before,  and  this  repeated  for  three  times ; 
and  when  last  put  back,  he  was  told  that  he  would  be  con 
fined  and  whipped  every  day  till  the  expiration  of  his  sen 
tence,  if  he  did  not  confess." 

A  southern  editor  says,  with  regard  to  this  para 
graph,— 

u  It  were  an  easy  matter  to  cull  from  every  northern  mail 
that  reaches  us  accounts  of  individual  instances  of  cruelty 
and  brutality.  It  would  not  be  venturing  too  far  to  say, 
that,  for  every  three  hundred  and  sixty-five  days  in  the 
year,  the  New  York,  Philadelphia,  and  Boston  papers  con 
tain  the  particulars  of  some  inhuman  exercise  of  authority. 
some  outrageous  case  of  arson  or  burglary,  or  some  horri 
ble  murder  of  a  wife  by  her  husband,  or  of  a  husband  by 
his  wife,  of  a  child  by  its  parent,  or  of  a  parent  bv  the  child. 
We  might  make  out  a  catalogue  of  sins  and  oHences  al 
most  sullicient  to  overwhelm  these  cities  with  the  terrible 
fate  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  should  the  divine  justice 
subject  them  to  the  same  conditions  imposed  upon  those 
ancient  sinks  of  iniquity.  We  might  even  arrive  at  the 
conclusion  that  there  was  something  radically  wrong  and 
corrupt  in  the  framework  of  society  where  enormities  of 
the  most  frightful  and  disgusting  character  are  of  such  fre 
quent  occurrence.  *  *  *  We  all  know  that  the  most 
heinous  violations  of  law,  at  the  north  as  well  as  at  the 
south,  are  seldom  followed  by  an  execution.  We  know, 

7 


96  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OP    SLAVERY. 

further,  that  the  disgusting  details  of  a  divorce  case  have 
been  known  to  divide  public  attention  in  New  York  with 
a  revolution  in  France,  and  that  the  brutal  pugilist  Tom 
Hyer,  on  his  return  from  his  victory  over  Yankee  Sullivan, 
was  paraded  up  Broadway  in  an  open  carriage. 

"  We  do  not  choose,  however,  to  abuse  the  position  we 
occupy  as  a  public  journalist.  We  know  there  are  just 
as  good  people  at  the  north  as  there  are  at  the  south,  or 
any  where  else.  We  know  there  are  violators  of  la\v  in 
all  countries  and  under  all  circumstances  of  life,  and  that 
it  is  both  wrong  and  untruthful  to  charge  their  crimes  upon 
the  communities  in  which  they  reside,  or  upon  any  one  of 
the  institutions  with  which  they  are  surrounded.  Freedom 
is  not  responsible  for  the  sins  "of  the  north,  nor  is  slavery 
amenable  for  the  transgressions  of  the  south.  Whatever 
is  wrong  in  either  section  should  be  ascribed  to  the  proper 
cause  —  to  that  perverted  nature  which  led  Cain  to  take 
the  life  of  his  brother,  and  which  has  filled  the  earth  with 
all  the  evil  and  woe  which  have  afflicted  it  from  that  day 
until  this." 

Now,  suppose  that  the  papers  of  the  south  should  have 
each  a  corps  of  reporters  to  pry  every  where  for  stirring 
items  in  connection  with  slavery,  and  that  those  papers 
should  have  the  same  inducements  to  publish  them  which 
our  papers  have  to  report  the  last  instances  of  abuse  and 
•crime  here. 

We  will  not  say  that  the  balance  in  favor  of  the  south 
would  be  changed ;  but  the  suggestion  will  not  be  gain 
said,  that  to  make  the  cases  parallel,  the  means  of  in 
formation  in  the  two  cases  must  be  the  same. 

Passing  by  a  plantation,  I  saw  a  white  man  standing 
in  a  field  near  the  road,  with  his  arms  folded,  and  a  large 
whip  in  his  hand.  A  little  farther  on,  I  came  to  a  row 
of  fifteen  or  twenty  negroes,  hoeing  industriously,  with 
out  lifting  their  heads  to  look  at  those  who  were  going 
by.  Had  I  told  this  overseer  how  I  felt  on  seeing  him, 
he  would  probably  have  replied,  that  my  feelings  were 
northern  prejudices  ;  that  he  never  strikes  the  negroes, 


A    SOUTH-SIDE   VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  97 

and  is  on  good  terms  with  them  ;  that  his  whip  is  partly 
in  self-defence  in  case  of  need,  and  partly  to  enforce,  by 
its  bare  presence,  his  orders,  in  refractory  cases,  should 
they  occur.  But  he  was  a  revolting  sight. 

Many  planters  do  not  employ  white  overseers,  but 
use  some  of  the  hands  in  their  stead,  paying  them  for 
this  responsibility.  Touching  instances  of  faithfulness 
are  related  of  these  colored  head  men.  The  white  over 
seers  have  it  in  their  power,  of  course,  to  perpetrate 
many  tyrannical  and  cruel  acts ;  but  we  must  not  sup 
pose  that  southern  masters  are  indifferent  to  wrongs  and 
outrages  committed  against  their  slaves.  There  is  a 
public  sentiment  to  which  they  are  amenable  ;  a  cruel, 
neglectful  master  is  marked  and  despised  ;  and  if  cruel 
or  neglectful  by  proxy,  he  does  not  escape  reprobation. 
It  was  not  unusual  to  hear  one  say  of  another,  "  I  have 
been  told  that  he  does  not  use  his  people  well."  This 
is  a  brand  upon  a  man  which  he  and  his  family  are  made 
to  feel  deeply.  But  this  is  true  only  of  certain  states 
of  society. 

Slaveholding,  like  every  relation,  is  a  net  which  gath 
ers  of  every  kind.  There  are  elements  in  it,  at  the 
south,  fitted  to  promote  the  highest  happiness  and  wel 
fare,  temporal  and  spiritual,  of  the  negro ;  and  it  can 
make  him  perfectly  miserable.  Many  things  charged 
against  slavery  are  chargeable  to  'construction  account' 
in  human  nature. 

The  most  common  expression  at  the  south,  with  re 
gard  to  slavery,  is,  "  It  is  a  great  curse."  An  intelligent 
gentleman,  a  slaveholder,  said,  in  answer  to  a  question, 
that  unquestionably  four-fifths  of  the  people  of  his  State, 
one  of  the  oldest  slave  States,  would  be  entirely  free  from 


98  A  SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

it  were  it  possible.  It  is  well  known  that  several  slave 
States  have  been  upon  the  borders  of  emancipation.  In 
the  public  debates  which  have  been  had  in  Virginia  at 
different  times  on  this  subject  are  to  be  found  some  of 
the  most  able  and  thorough  arguments  against  slavery. 
Here  is  one  illustration,  among  many  which  might  be 
given,  of  antislavery  feeling  at  the  south,  just  previous 
to  the  recent  excitement  with  regard  to  Nebraska  and 
Kansas.  The  Providence  Journal  says, — 

SLAVERY  IN  WESTERN  VIRGINIA.  —  A  jrood  deal  of 
excitement  has  been  caused  in  Wheeling  by  the  course 
of  the  Times  newspaper  in  that  city,  openly  favoring  the 
abolition  of  slavery.  There  are  few  slaves  in  Western 
Virginia,  and  the  country  is  not  adapted  to  slave  labor :  but 
the  sentiment  of  the  State,  its  feelinirs,  prejudices,  and  tra 
ditions  are  all  so  intensely  favorable  to  slavery,  that  it 
requires  no  little  boldness  for  a  man  to  stand  up  in  the 
midst  of  all  these  unfavorable  influences,  and  speak  the 
plain  truth.  The  boldness  of  the  Times  in  doing  so  was 
attempted  to  be  rebuked  by  a  public  meeting,  called  to 
condemn  the  abolitionism  of  that  print.  The  meeting  was 
large ;  the  resolutions  condemning  the  Times  were  voted 
down,  and  others  were  substituted  approving  of  the  hon 
esty  and  independence  of  its  course.  The  following  is  the 
manner  in  which  the  Times  discusses  the  question  of  sla 
very,  and  these  are  the  sentiments  which  the  people  read, 
and  which  they  defend  the  editor  for  publishing :  — 

u  We  are  in  favor  of  taking  the  earliest  possible  means 
of  getting  rid  of  slavery  in  the  State  of  Virginia,  with  jus 
tice  to  the  master,  safety  to  the  State,  and  comfort  and 
convenience  to  the  laboring  population  now  in  it. 

"  We  desire  it  because  it  has  retarded  the  progress  of  the 
people  since  it  became  a  State,  impoverishing  its  inhabit 
ants,  reducing  its  population,  and  staying  the  development 
of  the  vast  natural  resources  that  abound  in  the  State,  to  a 
greater  extent  than  in  any  other  State  in  the  Union.  Had 
it  not  been  for  slavery,  Norfolk  would  now  be  what  New 
York  and  Philadelphia  are.  Norfolk  has  the  best  harbor 
in  the  Union,  and  the  natural  soil  that  extends  from  the 
coast  to  the  Blue  Ridge  is  among  the  best  in  the  country. 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEAV    OF    SLAVERY.  99 

Had  that  institution  not  existed  there,  or  if  it  should  be 
removed,  how  long  would  it  be  before  Norfolk  would  be 
among  the  first  cities,  and  the  worn-out  lands  in  that  region 
of  country,  that  are  now  owned  in  five  hundred  and  one 
thousand  acre  tracts,  (and  hardly  support  a  family  at  that,) 
would  be  divided  into  fifty  acre  tracts,  each  of  which  would 
be  tilled  by  the  hands  of  the  hardy  and  intelligent  repub 
lican,  not  only  to  yield  a  support,  but  competence  and 
riches,  to  a  large  and  happy  family  —  happy  in  their  indus 
try  and  intelligence  1 

"  No  one  dare  deny  that  such  would  be  the  result.  Is  it 
not  riirht.  then,  that  we  should  express  such  opinions?  We 
are  parties  interested  as  well  as  they ;  for  what  benefits  or 
injures  one  part  of  the  State,  benefits  or  injures  the  other 
part." 

A  southern  correspondent  of  the  New  York  Observer 
thus  expresses  himself:  "Though  born  and  raised 
among  the  Green  Mountains,  I  have  been  more  than 
thirty  years  at  the  south,  and  I  hold  slaves ;  yet  I  think 
I  can  do  justice  to  the  feelings  of  north  and  south.  I 
believe  slavery  is  a  curse  to  the  south,  and  many  others 
believe  it,  who  will  not  own  it,  on  account  of  the  fanatic 
efforts  of  the  abolitionists.  When  I  speak  of  it  as  a 
curse,  I  mean  in  all  its  relations  of  master  and  servant  — 
the  bad  influence  it  has  upon  our  passions,  upon  our 
children,  destroying  that  sense  of  moral  responsibility 
which  ought  to  bear  upon  us." 


100  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

APPROACHES  TO  EMANCIPATION. 

THE  country  found  in  its  bosom,  at  the  time  of  our 
confederation,  about  seven  hundred  thousand  slaves. 
The  following,  from  a  recent  number  of  the  National 
Intelligencer,  presents  an  accurate  and  clear  view  of  an 
important  part  of  our  history  in  connection  with  this 
subject :  — 

THE  CONSTITUTION  AND  SLAVERY. —  The  journal  of 
the  Convention  to  frame  the  present  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  exhibits  the  following  facts  in  connection 
with  the  subject  of  slavery  :  — 

"  The  first  committee  on  the  subject  consisted  of  Rut- 
ledge  of  South  Carolina.  Randolph  of  Virginia.  Wilson  of 
Pennsylvania,  Gorham  of  Massachusetts,  and  Ellsworth  of 
Connecticut ;  and  they  reported,  as  a  section  for  the  Con 
stitution,  'that  no  tax  or  other  duty  should  be  laid  on  the 
migration  or  importation  of  such  persons  as  the  several 
States  shall  think  proper  to  admit,  nor  shall  such  migration 
or  importation  be  prohibited.}  " 

This  was  the  first  action  of  the  Convention  on  the  sla 
very  question;  and  it  will  be  seen  that  a  committee,  the 
majority  of  which  were  from  what  are  strong  antislavery 
States,  reported  against  any  future  prohibition  of  the  African 
slave  trade,  but  were  willing  to  legalize  it  perpetually. 

This  section  was  subsequently  referred  to  a  committee, 
selected  by  ballot,  consisting  of  Langdon  of  New  Hamp 
shire,  King  of  Massachusetts,  Johnson  of  Connecticut, 
Livingston  of  New  Jersey,  Clymer  of  Pennsylvania.  Dick 
inson  of  Delaware,  Martin  of  Maryland,  Madison  of  Vir- 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  101 

ginia.  Williamson  of  North  Carolina,  Pirickney  of  South 
Carolina,  and  Baldwin  of  Georgia. 

This  committee,  a  majority  of  which  were  from  slave 
States,  (then  and  now,)  reported  the  clause,  with  authority 
to  Congress  to  prohibit  the  slave  trade  after  the  year  1800, 
and  in  the  mean  time  with  authority  to  levy  a  tax  on  such 
importations.  This  section  was  afterwards  modified  and 
adopted  as  it  now  exists  in  the  Constitution,  extending  the 
time  before  which  Congress  could  not  prohibit  the  trade  un 
til  1808 — Massachusetts.  New  Hampshire,  and  Connecti 
cut,  free  States,  and  Maryland,  North  and  South  Carolina, 
slave  States,  voting  for  the  extension  ;  New  Jersey  and 
Pennsylvania,  free  States,  and  Delaware  and  Virginia, 
slave  States,  voting  against  it. 

From  the  above  it  appears  — 

1.  A  committee,  the  majority  of  which  were  from  free 
States ,  report  in  favor  of  denying  to  Congress  the  power  at 
any  period  to  prohibit  the  African  slave  trade. 

2.  That    a  subsequent  committee,  a  majority  of  which 
were  from  the  slave  States,  reported  a  new  section,  author 
izing  Congress  to  abolish  the  trade  after  the  year  1800. 

3.  That  this  period  was  extended  until  the  year  1808, 
thus  giving  eight   additional  years  to  the  traffic,  by  the 
vote  of  New  Hampshire,  Massachusetts,  and  Connecticut, 
whilst  the  vote  of  Virginia  was  against  such  extension. 


The  New  York  Tribune,  of  about  the  same  date, 
says,  — 

"  Had  the  New  England  States  voted  against  the 
extension,  the  slave  trade  would  have  been  abolished 
eight  years  earlier,  preventing  the  importation  of  more 
than  a  hundred  thousand  into  this  country,  and  there 
would  have  been  at  the  present  time  a  less  number  of 
slaves  in  the  United  States  by  at  least  three  hundred 
thousand." 

The  southern  heart  and  conscience  at  last  found  ex 
pression  on  the  subject  of  Slavery  in  that  most  remark 
able  document  adopted  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the 


102  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

Presbyterian  Church  of  the  United  States  in  1818,  and 
now  contained  in  the  Assembly's  Digest.  Its  interest 
and  its  connection  with  what  follows  warrant  its  inser 
tion  here. 

"  The  committee  to  which  was  referred  the  resolution  on 
the  subject  of  selling  a  slave,  a  member  of  the  church,  and 
which  was  directed  to  prepare  a  report  to  be  adopted  by 
the  Assembly,  expressing  their  opinion  in  general  on  the 
subject  of  slavery,  reported,  and,  their  report  being  read, 
was  unanimously  adopted,  and  referred  to  the  same  com 
mittee  for  publication.  It  is  as  follows,  viz. :  — 

"  The  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
having  taken  into  consideration  the  subject  of  SLAVERY, 
think  proper  to  make  known  their  sentiments  upon  it  to  the 
churches  and  people  under  their  care. 

a  We  consider  the  voluntary  enslaving  of  one  part  of  the 
human  race  by  another  as  a  gross  violation  of  the  most 
precious  and  sacred  rights  of  human  nature  ;  as  utterly  in 
consistent  with  the  law  of  God,  which  requires  us  to  love 
our  neighbor  as  ourselves  ;  and  as  totally  irreconcilable 
with  the  spirit  and  principles  of  the  gospel  of  Christ,  which 
enjoin  that  l  all  things  whatsoever  ye  would  that  men 
should  do  to  you,  do  ye  even  so  to  them.'  Slavery  creates 
a  paradox  in  the  moral  system — it  exhibits  rational,  ac 
countable,  and  immortal  beings  in  such  circumstances 
as  scarcely  to  leave  them  the  power  of  moral  action.  It 
exhibits  them  as  dependent  on  the  will  of  others,  whether 
they  shall  receive  religious  instruction  :  whether  they  shall 
know  and  worship  the  true  God;  whether  they  shall  enjoy 
the  ordinances  of  the  gospel ;  whether  they  shall  per 
form  the  duties  and  cherish  the  endearments  of  husbands 
and  wives,  parents  and  children,  neighbors  and  friends ; 
whether  they  shall  preserve  their  chastity  and  purity,  or 
regard  the  dictates  of  justice  and  humanity.  Such  are 
some  of  the  consequences  of  slavery  —  consequences  not 
imaginary  —  but  which  connect  themselves  with  its  very 
existence.  The  evils  to  which  the  slave  is  always  exposed 
often  take  place  in  fact,  and  in  their  very  worst  degree  and 
form  •  and  where  all  of  them  do  not  take  place  —  as  we 
rejoice  to  say  that  in  many  instances,  through  the  influence 
of  the  principles  of  humanity  and  religion  on  the  minds  of 
masters,  they  do  not,  —  still  the  slave  is  deprived  of  his 
natural  right,  degraded  as  a  human  being,  and  exposed  to 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVEHY.  103 

the  clanger  of  passing  into  the  hands  of  a  master  who  may 
intiict  upon  him  all  the  hardships  and  injuries  which  in 
humanity  and  avarice  may  suggest. 

•'•  From  this  view  of  the  consequences  resulting  from  the 
practice  into  which  Christian  people  have  most  inconsist 
ently  fallen,  of  enslaving  a  portion  of  their  brethren  of 
mankind,  —  for  <  God  hath  made  of  one  blood  all  nations 
of  men  to  dwell  on  the  face  of  the  earth,' — it  is  mani 
festly  the  duty  of  all  Christians  who  enjoy  the  light  of  the 
present  day,  when  the  inconsistency  of  slavery,  both  with 
the  dictates  of  humanity  and  religion,  has  been  demon 
strated,  and  is  generally  seen  and  acknowledged,  to  use 
their  honest,  earnest,  and  unwearied  endeavors  to  correct 
the  errors  of  former  times,  and  as  speedily  as  possible  to 
efface  this  blot  on  our  holy  religion,  and  to  obtain  the  com 
plete  abolition  of  slavery' throughout  Christendom,  and  if 
possible  throughout  the  world. 

a  We  rejoice  that  the  church  to  which  we  belong  com 
menced  as  early  as  any  other  in  this  country  the  good  work 
of  endeavoring  to  put"  an  end  to  slavery,  and  that  in  the 
same  work  many  of  its  members  have  ever  since  been, 
and  now  are,  among  the  most  active,  vigorous,  and  effi 
cient  laborers.  We  do  indeed  tenderly  sympathize  with 
those  portions  of  our  church  and  our  country  where  the 
evil  of  slavery  has  been  entailed  upon  them  ;  where  a 
great,  and  tlie  most  virtuon.*,  part  of  the  community  abhor 
slavery,  and  wish  its  extermination,  as  sincerely  as  any 
others,  but  where  the  number  of  slaves,  their  ignorance, 
and  their  vicious  habils  generally,  rentier  an  immediate 
and  universal  emancipation  inconsistent  alike  with  the 
safety  and  happiness  of  the  master  and  the  slave.  With 
those  who  are  thus  circumstanced  we  repeat  that  we  ten 
derly  sympathize.  At  the  same  time,  we  earnestly  exhort 
them  to  continue,  and,  if  possible,  to  increase  their  exer 
tions  to  effect  a  total  abolition  of  slavery.  We  exhort  them 
to  suffer  no  greater  delay  to  take  place  in  this  most  inter 
esting  concern  than  a  regard  to  the  public  welfare  truly 
and  indispensably  demands. 

"  As  our  country  has  indicted  a  most  grievous  injury  on 
the  unhappy  Africans,  by  bringing  them  into  slavery,  we 
cannot,  indeed,  urge  that  we  should  add  a  second  injury  to 
the  first,  by  emancipating  them  in  such  a  manner  as  that 
they  will  be  likely  to  destroy  themselves  or  others.  But 
we  do  think  that  our  country 'ought  to  be  governed,  in  this 
matter,  by  no  other  consideration  than  an  honest  and  im 
partial  regard  to  the  happiness  of  the  injured  party,  un- 


104  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

influenced  by  the  expense  or  inconvenience  which  such  a 
regard  may  involve.  We  therefore  warn  all  who  belong  to 
our  denomination  of  Christians  against  unduly  extending 
this  plea  of  necessity  ;  against  making  it  a  cover  for  the 
love  and  practice  of  slavery,  or  a  pretence  for  not  using 
efforts  that  are  lawful  and  practicable  to  extinguish  the 
evil. 

'•  And  we  at  the  same  time  exhort  others  to  forbear  harsh 
censures  and  uncharitable  reflections  on  their  brethren, 
who  unhappily  live  among  slaves,  whom  they  cannot  im 
mediately  set  free,  but  who.  at  the  same  time,  are  really 
using  all  their  influence  and  all  their  endeavors  to  bring 
them  into  a  state  of  freedom  as  soon  as  a  door  for  it  can 
be  safely  opened. 

"  Having  thus  expressed  our  views  of  slavery,  and  of  the 
duty  indispensably  incumbent  on  all  Christians  to  labor 
for  its  complete  extinction,  we  proceed  to  recommend  — 
and  we  do  it  with  all  the  earnestness  and  solemnity  which 
this  momentous  subject  demands  —  a  particular  attention 
to  the  following  points  :  — 

"  We  recommend  to  all  our  people  to  patronize  and  en 
courage  the  Society,  lately  formed,  for  Colonizing  in  Africa, 
the  land  of  their  ancestors,  the  free  people  of  color  in  our 
country.  We  hope  that  much  good  may  result  from  the 
plans  and  efforts  of  this  Society.  And  while  we  exceed 
ingly  rejoice  to  have  witnessed  its  origin  and  organization 
among  the  holders  of  slaves,  as  giving  an  unequivocal 
pledge  of  their  desire  to  deliver  themselves  and  their  coun 
try  from  the  calamity  of  slavery,  we  hope  that  those  por 
tions  of  the  American  Union  whose  inhabitants  are,  by  a 
gracious  Providence,  more  favorably  circumstanced,  will 
cordially,  and  liberally,  and  earnestly  cooperate  with  their 
brethren  in  bringing  about  the  great  end  contemplated. 

"  We  recommend  to  all  the  members  of  our  religious  de 
nomination,  not  only  to  permit,  but  to  facilitate  and  en 
courage,  the  instruction  of  their  slaves  in  the  principles 
and  duties  of  the  Christian  religion  :  by  granting  them 
liberty  to  attend  on  the  preaching  of  the  gospel,  when 
they  have  the  opportunity  ;  by  favoring  the  instruction  of 
them  in  Sabbath  schools,  \vherever  those  schools  can  be 
formed  ;  and  by  giving  them  all  other  proper  advantages 
for  acquiring  the  knowledge  of  their  duty  both  to  God  and 
man.  We  are  perfectly  satisfied,  that  as  it  is  incumbent 
on  all  Christians  to  communicate  religious  instruction  to 
those  who  are  under  their  authority,  so  the  doing  of  this 
in  the  case  before  us,  so  far  from  operating,  as  some  have 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  105 

apprehended  that  it  might,  as  an  excitement  to  insubor 
dination  and  insurrection,  would,  on  the  contrary,  operate 
as  the  most  powerful  means  for  the  prevention  of  those 
evils. 

'•'  We  enjoin  it  on  all  church  sessions  and  presbyteries, 
under  the  care  of  this  Assembly,  to  discountenance,  and, 
as  far  as  possible,  to  prevent,  all  cruelty  of  whatever  kind 
in  the  treatment  of  slaves  ;  especially  the  cruelty  of  sepa 
rating  husband  and  wife,  parents  and  children;  and  that 
which  consists  in  selling  slaves  to  those  who  will  either 
themselves  deprive  these  unhappy  people  of  the  blessings  of 
the  gospel,  or  who  will  transport  them  to  places  where  the 
gospel  is  not  proclaimed,  or  where  it  is  forbidden  to  slaves 
to  attend  upon  its  institutions.  The  manifest  violation  or 
disregard  of  the  injunction  here  given,  in  its  true  spirit  and 
intention,  ought  to  be  considered  as  just  ground  for  the 
discipline  and  censures  of  the  church.  And  if  it  shall 
ever  happen  that  a  Christian  professor,  in  our  communion, 
shall  sell  a  slave  who  is  also  in  communion  and  good  stand 
ing  with  our  church,  contrary  to  his  or  her  will  and  inclina 
tion,  it  ought  immediately  to  claim  the  particular  attention 
of  the  proper  church  judicature  ;  and  unless  there  be  such 
peculiar  circumstances  attending  the  case  as  can  but  sel 
dom  happen,  it  ought  to  be  followed,  without  delay,  by  a 
suspension  of  the  offender  from  all  the  privileges  of  the 
church,  till  he  repent,  and  make  all  the  reparation  in  his 
power  to  the  injured  party/'' 

Should  the  Old  School  General  Assembly  of  the  Pres 
byterian  Church,  embracing  as  it  does  most  of  the  south 
ern  Presbyterian  churches,  adopt  at  their  next  annual 
meeting  such  an  expression  as  this  of  their  views  in 
regard  to  slavery,  would  not  the  country  feel  that  a  vast 
ly  important  step  had  been  taken,  if  not  toward  the 
abolition  of  slavery,  at  least  toward  such  an  ameliora 
tion  of  it  that  it  would  soon  cease  to  be  an  evil?  What 
more  would  the  north  ask  for  the  first  step  in  that  direc 
tion  ?  Rather,  would  not  a  somewhat  general  apprehen 
sion  be,  that  perhaps  the  Assembly  had  gone  a  little  too 
far,  and  that  greater  caution,  through  fear  of  reaction, 
would  have  been  advisable  ?  What  ecclesiastical  body 


106  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

at  the  north  would  or  could  now  express  a  more  deci 
sive  protest  against  the  system  ?  Every  thing  looked 
like  as  speedy  a  removal  of  the  evils  of  slavery  as  the 
imperfection  of  human  society  and  the  slow  processes 
of  reforming  ancient  customs  allowed.  This  was  not  a 
mere  ecclesiastical  movement,  nor  an  impulse  of  right 
feeling  in  the  more  zealous  or  fervent  members  of  the 
community.  In  Delaware,  Maryland,  Virginia,  and 
Kentucky,  public  sentiment  warranted  and  sustained 
this  action.  Jefferson's  well-known  protestations  against 
slavery  were  not  the  voice  of  one  crying  in  a  wil 
derness,  but  the  exponent  of  extensive  feeling  on  the 
subject.  Washington  had  said,  "  It  is  among  my  first 
wishes  to  see  some  plan  adopted  by  which  slavery  may 
be  abolished  by  law."  Madison,  a  slaveholder,  also  said, 
"  It  is  wrong  to  admit  into  the  Constitution  the  idea  of 
property  in  man."  After  the  ordinance  of  1787  had 
been  passed,  an  interesting  decision  was  made  in  Congress, 
which  was  like  a  refusal  to  re-consider,  and  a  re-affirma 
tion.  Indiana,  then  a  part  of  the  North  West  Territo 
ry,  petitioned  Congress  for  leave  to  hold  slaves  for  a 
certain  term.  A  committee,  of  which  a  southern  slave 
holder  was  chairman,  reported  against  it,  and  the  peti 
tion  was  rejected.* 

A  great  change  very  soon  came  over  the  south.  Re 
monstrances  from  among  themselves,  legislative  meas 
ures,  free,  earnest  discussions  of  slavery,  all  tending  to 
its  removal  as  soon  as  the  best  method  could  be  deter 
mined,  were  suddenly  hushed. 

This  phenomenon  is  strangely  accounted  for,  on  the 
part  of  many  at  the  north,  by  saying  that  about  this 

*  Oration,  July  4, 1854,  by  T.  K.  King,  Esq.,  Providence,  R.  I. 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  107 

time  the  cotton  interest  assumed  very  great  importance, 
and  the  antislavery  feeling  at  the  south  was  therefore 
suppressed. 

He  who  believes  this,  makes  an  imputation  which 
hardly  does  credit  to  his  knowledge  of  human  nature  ; 
it  certainly  reflects  too  much  upon  the  Christian  char 
acter  of  a  community  distinguished  for  intellectual  and 
moral  excellence.  The  names  of  some  who  were  fore 
most  at  that  day  in  guiding  public  sentiment  sufficiently 
refute  this  suspicion.  Neither  can  it  be  shown  that 
there  were  at  that  time  those  astounding  revelations  of 
the  profitableness  of  cotton  as  would  suggest  the  proba 
bility  of  so  great  a  change  of  views  and  feelings  with 
regard  to  a  moral  question  ;  and  as  such,  slavery  spe 
cially  presented  itself. 

The  manner  in  which  this  change  of  feeling  and  ac 
tion  is  now  universally  accounted  for  at  the  south  sug 
gests  the  more  probable  explanation. 

About  that  time  people  at  the  north  were  seized  with 
deep  convictions  that  American  slavery  was  a  system  of 
iniquity,  and  should  forthwith  be  abolished  ;  that  it  was 
a  sin  per  se  to  hold  a  fellow-being  in  bondage  ;  and  that 
all  sin  should  be  immediately  repented  of  and  forsaken. 
Accordingly  abolition  societies  were  formed  to  effect  the 
immediate  emancipation  of  the  slaves.  Publications 
were  scattered  through  the  south  whose  direct  tendency 
was  to  stir  up  insurrection  among  the  colored  people. 

A  traveling  agent  of  a  northern  society  was  arrested, 
and,  on  searching  his  trunk,  there  were  found  some 
prints,  which  might  well  have  wrought,  as  they  did,  upon 
the  feelings  of  the  southern  people.  These  prints  were 
pictorial  illustrations  of  the  natural  equality  before  God 
of  all  men,  without  distinction  of  color,  and  setting  forth 


108  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

the  happy  fruits  of  a  universal  acknowledgment  of  this 
truth,  by  exhibiting  a  white  woman  in  no  equivocal 
relations  to  a  colored  man.  Incendiary  sentiments  and 
pictures  had  for  some  time  made  their  appearance  on 
northern  handkerchiefs,  for  southern  children  and  ser 
vants.  The  old-fashioned,  blue-paper  wrappers  of 
chocolate  had  within  them  some  eminently  suggestive 
emblems.  When  these  amalgamation  pictures  were  dis 
covered,  husbands  and  fathers  at  the  south  considered 
that  whatever  might  be  true  of  slavery  as  a  system, 
self-defence,  the  protection  of  their  households  against  a 
servile  insurrection,  was  their  first  duty.  Who  can  won 
der  that  they  broke  into  the  post-office,  and  seized  and 
burned  abolition  papers  ;  indeed,  no  excesses  are  sur 
prising,  in  view  of  the  perils  to  which  they  sawr  them 
selves  exposed.  Then  ensued  those  more  stringent 
laws,  so  general  now  throughout  the  slaveholding  States, 
forbidding  the  slaves  to  be  publicly  instructed.  Those 
laws  remain  to  the  present  day ;  they  are  disregarded, 
indeed,  to  a  very  great  extent,  by  the  people  themselves ; 
but  they  remain  in  order  to  be  enforced  against  north 
ern  interference. 

Yet  the  paralyzing  influence  of  the  causes  which  led 
to  such  legislation  continues.  We  wonder  at  it,  and  so 
do  our  southern  friends.  To  the  question  why  vari 
ous  things  are  not  done  to  improve  the  condition  of  the 
blacks,  the  perpetual  answer  from  men  and  women 
who  seek  no  apology  for  indolence  or  cupidity  is,  "  We 
are  afraid  of  your  abolitionists.  Whoever  moves  for 
redress  in  any  of  these  things  is  warned  that  he  is 
playing  into  the  hands  of  northern  fanatics."  They 
seem  to  be  living  in  a  state  of  self-defence,  of  self-pres 
ervation,  against  the  north. 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  100 

The  following  communications  to  the  New  York 
Observer  contain  valuable  information :  — 

JEFFERSON  Co.,   Va.,  February  13. 

Messrs.  Editors  :  In  answer  to  your  request  that  some 
of  your  readers  acquainted  with  the  laws  of  Virginia  would 
send  you  the  truth  of  the  matter  relating  to  the  teaching  of 
slaves,  I  have  referred  to  the  Virginia  code.  In  chapter 
198,  entitled,  Of  Offences  against  Public  Policy,  section  31 
provides.  —  every  assemblage  of  negroes,  "for  the  purpose 
of  instruction  in  reading  and  writing,  or  in  the  nighttime 
foranypurpose,  shall  be  an  unlawful  assembly/7  '-Any 
justice  may  issue  his  warrant  to  any  officer,  or  to  any  other 
person,  requiring  him  to  enter  any  place  where  such  assem 
blage  may  be,  and  seize  any  negro  therein ;  and  he.  or  any 
other  jastice,  may  order  any  such  negro  to  be  punished 
with  stripes.7' 

Section  32  is  as  follows  :  "  If  a  white  person  assemble 
with  negroes  for  the  purpose  of  instructing  them  to  read  or 
write,  or  if  he  associates  with  them  in  an  unlawful  assembly, 
he  shall  be  confined  in  jail  not  exceeding  six  months,  and 
fined  not  exceeding  one  hundred  dollars  ;  and  any  justice 
may  require  him  to  enter  into  a  recognizance,  with  suf 
ficient  security,  to  appear  before  the  Circuit,  County,  or 
Corporation  Court,  of  the  county  or  corporation  where  the 
offence  was  committed,  to  answer  therefor,  and  in  the  mean 
time  to  keep  the  peace  and  be  of  his  good  behavior." 

You  will  perceive  that  by  the  terms  of  this  law  a  master 
or  mistress  is  not  forbidden  to  teach  his  or  her  own  ser 
vants  to  read.  Such,  I  believe,  is  the  general  understanding 
in  the  State;  and  it  often  happens  that  the  young  mem 
bers  of  the  family  do  teach  the  negroes  in  the  family  to 
read. 

This  law  was  first  passed  in  1830  or  1831. 

A  VIRGINIA  LAWYER. 

Messrs.  Editors :  In  your  paper  of  the  9th,  information 
is  asked  from  some  one  "  acquainted  with  the  laws  of 
Virginia"  on  the  subject  of  "  teaching  slave*."  I  can  fur 
nish  it  in  the  simple  recital  of  a  historical  fact. 

About  five  years  ago,  Dr.  E.,  of  A county,  died, 

leaving,  by  will,  all  his  slaves,  some  thirty-four  in  number, 
free,  and  appropriated  fifty  thousand  dollars  in  bonds,  well 
secured,  for  their  personal  benefit.  They  were  to  be  kept 
on  the  plantation  for  five  years,  to  be  educated  and  pre 
pared  for  freedom  under  the  control  and  direction  of  the 


110  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

nephew  of  the  testator,  who  was  the  executor  of  the  will 
and  residuary  legatee.  As  agent  of  the  Colonization 
Society,  the  subject  came  under  my  cognizance.  The 
nephew  was  anxious  to  fulfill  the  important  trust  com 
mitted  to  him.  and  proposed  to  petition  the  legislature  to 
allow  him  to  educate  the  slaves  in  letters.  This  led  me  to 
a  personal  and  thorough  investigation  of  the  subject.  I 
then  learned  from  the  highest  authority,  legal  and  political, 
that  the  statute  on  the  subject  allowed  owners  to  teach 
their  slaves  in  their  own  families,  but  not  to  employ  a 
schoolmaster  for  this  purpose.  Thus  the  law,  somewhat 
equivocal  in  terms,  has  always  been  construed.  The 
object  of  the  law  was  not  designed  to  control  the  liberality 
of  the  master  in  the  matter,  but  to  protect  the  country 
against  a  foreign  influence  by  excluding  irresponsible 
teachers. 

History  contains  few  plots  more  appalling  than  some 
which  were  detected  among  the  slaves  just  on  the  eve  of 
being  carried  into  effect.  As  northern  zeal  has  pro 
mulgated  bolder  sentiments  with  regard  to  the  right  and 
duty  of  slaves  to  steal,  burn,  and  kill,  in  effecting  their 
liberty,  the  south  has  intrenched  itself  by  more  vigor 
ous  laws  and  customs  ;  and  it  is  not  strange  that  in  argu 
ment  also  some  positions  should  be  taken  which  once 
would  have  found  no  defenders.  Nothing  forces  itself 
more  constantly  upon  the  thoughts  of  a  northerner  at 
the  south,  who  looks  into  the  history  and  present  state 
of  slavery,  than  the  vast  injury  which  has  resulted  from 
northern  interference.  We  sometimes  speak  of  the 
black  man,  in  his  relation  to  the  human  family,  as 
"  Joseph,"  whom  his  brethren  have  sold  into  slavery. 
If  the  black  man  at  the  south  is  "Joseph,"  there  are 
those  at  the  north,  who,  with  less  violence  to  truth  than  to 
rhetorical  correctness,  may  be  called  "  Potiphar's  wife," 
by  whom  "Joseph"  has  been  put  into  deeper  bondage; 
"  Wjhose  feet  they  hurt  with  fetters  ;  he  was  laid  in  irons." 
"STpastor  of  a  large  colored  church  at  the  south  writes 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  Ill 

to  me,  "  Many  of  the  higher  class  of  citizens  sustain  me 
in  my  labors  by  their  approval ;  but  many  cherish,  I  fear, 
a  latent  suspicion  of  abolition,  insurrection,  &c.  Mean 
while,  I  strive  simply  to  preach  Christ  crucified." 

There  are  men  at  the  south  who  maintain  that  so  long 
as  the  existence  of  society  there  depends  upon  the  sub 
jection  of  the  colored  to  the  white  race,  it  is  better  for 
the  blacks  to  depend  wholly  on  oral  instruction.  Taught 
to  read,  it  is  said,  they  will  be  unfitted  for  their  servile 
condition,  through  the  information  which  they  will  in 
many  ways  acquire.  It  has  been  said,  for  substance,  by- 
high  authority,  in  the  debates  of  a  State  convention  at 
the  south,  "  To  make  the  slaves  most  useful  to  us,  and 
most  contented  and  happy,  we  must  shut  up  some  of  the 
avenues  by  which  knowledge  would  reach  their  minds. 
They  can  be  taught  orally  every  thing  essential  to  sal 
vation  ;  they  can  thus  be  made  familiar  with  the  word 
of  God ;  they  can  be  intelligent  Christians,  as  we  see 
many  of  them  are,  without  reading."  Those  who  say 
this  will  tell  you  that  their  philanthropy  in  this  thing  is 
wiser  and  better  than  yours,  and  that,  after  all,  they  give 
their  slaves  more  instruction  than  Avhite  servants  receive. 

Though  this  is  not  the  common  sentiment,  it  is  never 
theless  fortified  and  defended  by  appeals  made  to  the  prin 
ciples  of  self-preservation  in  southern  citizens  against 
the  north.  Were  there  entire  kindness  and  confidence 
between  the  north  and  south  on  the  subject  of  slavery, 
any  attempt  to  shut  up  the  Bible  from  the  most  unre 
stricted  use  by  the  slaves  would  be  overborne  by  Chris 
tian  benevolence.  Nothing  could  prevent  the  slaves 
from  being  as  generally  instructed  as  the  whites  are 
where  common  schools  do  not  prevail ;  and  where  they 
do  prevail,  the  slaves  would  indirectly  partake  of  these 
8 


112  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

benefits.  But  if  one  thing  is  more  obvious  than  an 
other  to  a  friendly  northerner  at  the  south,  it  is  that 
northern  interference  is  largely  responsible  for  withhold 
ing  the  Word  of  God  from  the  hands  of  millions  of  souls 
in  our  land.  A  common  and  favorite  name  of  some  at 
the  north,  who  are  extremely  and  conscientiously  inter 
ested  in  the  abolition  of  slavery,  is,  "  friends  of  the 
slave."  It  would  make  some  of  them  weep  to  see  what 
a  practical  misnomer  this  is. 

Invariably,  the  answer  to  every  question  about  teach 
ing  the  slaves  to  read,  from  men  who  were  not  capable 
of  excusing  themselves  from  Christian  duty,  was,  "  If 
you  will  give  us  a  chance  to  do  something  besides 
defending  ourselves  against  northern  agitators,  we  will 
satisfy  every  reasonable  expectation  on  those  points. 
While  we  are  cursed,  and  threatened,  and  ecclesiastical 
bodies  are  making  presentments  of  us  before  Heaven, 
and  invoking  divine  vengeance  upon  us,  and  foreign 
people  are  stirred  up  against  us,  and  we  are  irritated  by 
having  our  colored  people  decoyed  from  us,  and  we 
know  not  who  are  lurking  among  us  to  excite  insurrec 
tions,  how  can  we  be  expected  to  make  progress  in  ref 
ormations  ?  Grant  that  it  is  our  plain  duty  to  instruct 
the  slaves  in  reading  the  Word  of  God  in  defiance  of  all 
danger.  It  is  not  in  human  nature  to  do  its  duty  under 
compulsion  from  equals.  When  you  say  to  a  man, 
'  You  shall,'  human  nature  says,  '  I  won't,'  however 
just  your  demand  may  be.  We  at  the  south  are  no  bet 
ter  naturally  than  you,  and  you  would  do  as  we  do,  if 
you  were  treated  like  us." 

Bad  men  at  the  south  are  furnished  by  some  forms  of 
northern  agitation,  not  only  with  excuses  for  their  con 
sciences,  but  with  the  short  logic  of  retaliation,  to  justify 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  113 

the  hardships  in  slavery ;  and  there  are  enough  of  such 
men  every  where,  loud  and  denunciatory,  to  exert  great 
control  in  popular  assemblies,  where  Christian  meekness 
can  not  make  its  voice  heard.  Good  men  every  where 
are  apt  to  give  way  before  the  furious  blasts  of  passion 
which  come  from  such  a  quarter;  and  though  they  mourn 
over  it,  they  say  it  is  useless  to  resist,  for  such  men 
get  the  popular  ear,  and  stir  up  popular  feeling  against 
a  good  measure.  Conservative  men,  even  when  in 
the  majority,  are  disposed  to  yield  when  conscientious 
radicals  oppose  them ;  and  they  submit  to  defeat  by  such 
men  with  a  good  grace,  while  radicals  are  apt  to  be 
factious  and  rebellious  if  they  can  not  have  their  own  way. 
When  a  strong  movement  was  made  in  one  of  the  legis 
latures  at  the  south  to  raise  the  term  of  years  within 
which  a  child  should  not  be  sold,  something  was  indeed 
gained ;  but  one  argument  against  the  whole  proposition 
was,  "  It  is  a  concession  to  the  abolitionists."  The  gen 
tleman  who  drafted  the  act  told  me  that  the  proposition 
to  forbid  the  sale  of  a  child  under  twelve  or  thirteen 
years  of  age  was  voted  down  under  the  influence  of  ap 
peals  and  warnings,  strange  as  they  seem  to  us,  against 
northern  exultations.  Now,  a  child  five  years  old  may, 
in  that  State,  be  sold  and  removed  from  its  parents.  We 
are  verily  guilty  concerning  our  brother.  Wisdom  and 
kindness  in  a  private  individual  lead  him  to  refrain  from 
exasperating  even  the  unreasonable  feelings  of  one  who 
is  believed  to  be  in  error ;  to  cease  from  aggravating 
prejudice  and  passion  is  commonly  regarded  as  the  most 
effectual  way  to  promote  a  desirable  object.  This  has 
not  characterized  our  treatment  of  slavery  and  the 
south.  Up  to  the  present  moment  outrages  are  com 
mitted  in  the  name  of  freedom  and  humanity,  which 


114  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

must  result,  if  not  checked,  in  a  state  of  things  which  it 
is  sad  to  contemplate.  What  community  can  long  en 
dure  such  assaults  as  these  without  resorting  to  retalia 
tory  measures  leading  to  scenes  of  personal  and  section 
al  contest  ?  Late  papers  tell  us  that,  within  a  few 
weeks,  — 

"A  slave  girl  was  taken  from  a  railroad  train  at 
Salem,  Columbiana  county,  Ohio,  by  force.  She  clung 
to  her  mistress,  but  was  carried  off  by  a  large  negro, 
who  flourished  a  pistol  amidst  the  applause  of  the  spec 
tators.  Her  master  offered  to  go  before  an  officer  with 
her  and  execute  free  papers,  leaving  the  girl  to  remain 
free  or  to  go  forth  with  him ;  but  the  mob  would  not 
suffer  it," 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  115 


CHAPTER    X. 

WHAT  SHALL  WE  DO? 

WE  have  been  most  singularly  foiled  in  our  plans  and 
purposes  with  regard  to  the  removal  of  slavery  from 
this  country,  and  more  recently  with  regard  to  its  ex 
tension  beyond  its  old  dominion.  We  have  legislated 
and  protested,  prayed  and  preached,  against  the  ex 
tension  of  slavery,  and  this  day  it  is  more  than  ever 
lengthening  its  cords  and  strengthening  its  stakes. 

We  have  done  that  which  we  supposed  to  be  our  duty. 
We  have  walked  according  to  the  best  light  that  we 
could  obtain.  We  have  become  educated  to  a  more  in 
tense  interest  in  the  black  man  than  in  all  the  other  races 
together ;  and  perhaps  it  is  because  God  intends  that  we 
should  have  more  to  do  on  this  continent  with  him  than 
with  any  other  race. 

What  strange  adversity  has  followed  those  who  have 
been  foremost  in  the  antislavery  cause  !  The  south  was 
just  on  the  eve  of  abolishing  slavery ;  the  abolitionists 
arose,  and  put  it  back  within  its  innermost  intrenchments. 
We  had  succeeded,  as  we  thought,  in  restricting  slavery 
to  its  ancient  limits,  when  the  liberty  party,  by  their  well- 
known  decisive  influence  in  a  presidential  election,  added 
that  vast  State  of  Texas  to  slave  territory. 

By  our  antislavery  agitation  and  its  influence  on  the 
south,  as  we  are  told,  she  has  simply  acted  in  self- 


116  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

defence  and  has  just  succeeded  in  getting  permission  for 
slavery  to  extend  itself  into  the  new  regions  of  our 
country. 

What  is  to  be  the  end  of  this  contest  ?  What  shall 
we  do? 

SECTION  I.  —  Dissolution  of  the  Union  an  Absurdity. 

"  Let  us  peaceably  dissolve  the  Union,"  is  one  answer. 
"  Let  us  make  a  partition  of  our  whole  territory,  and  let 
slavery  have  undisturbed  possession  of  its  separate 
domain." 

A  peaceable  separation  of  the  Union  is  an  impossi 
bility.  Peace  at  the  separation,  or  afterwards,  will  be 
looked  for  in  vain.  A  peaceable  dissolution  of  our  plan 
etary  system  might  almost  as  well  be  expected. 

But  allowing  it  to  be  possible,  some  thoughts  and  ques 
tions  naturally  arise  at  such  a  proposition. 

Would  slavery  be  diminished  by  this  movement? 
Would  the  wrongs  and  woes  of  the  black  man  be  les 
sened  ?  Clearly  not,  as  a  necessary  result. 

"  But  we  should  wash  our  hands  from  all  participation 
in  them." 

This  end  of  responsibility  would  no  doubt  be  a  sublime 
spectacle  to  some ;  but  there  is  an  undefined  and  unsus 
pected  step  connected  with  every  thing  sublime,  which 
sometimes  lands  the  actor  at  the  foot  of  all  his  great 
ness. 

If  men's  consciences  and  sensibilities  are  now  disturbed 
so  much  at  the  "  enormous  wrongs  of  slavery,"  how 
would  it  be  if  tales  of  perpetual  woe  should  reach  them 
from  that  future  prison  ship,  the  southern  confederacy, 
with  its  growing  millions  of  slaves  confined  beneath  the 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  117 

hatches  ?  If  the  slave  trade  has  moved  civilized  nations 
to  arm  themselves  against  it,  could  our  northern  philan 
thropists  be  quiet  with  a  land  of  slavery  festering,  as 
they  would  suppose,  with  pollution  and  guilt  ? 

Suppose  that  the  slave  trade  should  be  revived  by  the 
south,  at  least  through  privateers  from  the  south  and 
north.  War  would  then  cover  the  seas ;  commerce 
would  faint  and  fail.  Fugitive  slaves  would  be  de 
manded  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet,  and  armies  would 
meet  armies. 

The  south,  perhaps,  would  enter  into  a  commercial 
treaty  with  Great  Britain.  Canada  would  then  be  closed, 
if  not  before,  against  fugitive  slaves.  The  south  would 
have  its  own  tariff  and  ships.  Our  ship  builders  would 
go  where  their  business  led  them ;  cotton  would  no  less 
rule  the  world  than  now.  A  great  impulse  would  be 
given  to  the  planting  interest.  Manufactures  go  with 
commerce.  The  north  would  pay  a  good  price  for  her 
virtuous  abhorrence  of  evil,  and  look  like  a  ghostly  an 
chorite,  while  British  capitalists,  descendants  of  Clarkson 
and  Wilberforce,  (such  is  human  nature,')  would  no  doubt 
profit  by  our  dissolution  of  partnership. 

This  is  one  picture.  Another  is  this.  The  Christian 
men  and  women  at  the  south,  relieved  of  all  interference 
from  the  north,  would  begin  the  work  of  reforming  every 
evil  among  them  incident  to  slavery.  Treaties  with 
Great  Britain  would  prevent  slaves  from  fleeing  to  Can 
ada,  and  the  free  States  would  reject  them.  The  parti 
tion  of  the  Union  would  give  the  south  more  territory 
to  be  an  outlet  for  their  surplus  black  population.  Laws 
would  be  passed  more  humane  to  the  slave  than  we  ever 
dreamed  of,  and  a  great  and  flourishing  community  of 
Christianized  black  people  would  cover  the  slaveholding 


118  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

States.  •  The  American  Colonization  Society  —  the  child 
of  the  south  —  would  receive  multitudes  of  emancipated 
negroes  to  Christianize  and  colonize  Africa.  Such  have 
been  the  marvelous  acts  of  divine  grace  to  the  Africans, 
in  bringing  them,  through  the  cupidity  and  sinfulness  of 
men,  to  this  country,  and  saving  a  great  multitude  of 
them,  that  it  requires  neither  strong  faith  nor  fancy  to 
suppose  that  this  work  might  still  go  on,  in  the  form  of 
interchange  of  the  blacks  between  Africa  and  the  South 
ern  States.  The  south  has  learned  to  be,  and  is  fitted 
to  be,  the  protector  and  friend  of  the  African.  The 
proportion  of  cruelty  and  wickedness  due  to  human  na 
ture  every  where  has  been,  of  course,  enacted  there; 
but  God  is  there,  and  his  gospel,  and  his  Spirit,  and  his 
elect ;  and  as  sure  as  Christ  is  to  reign  through  the  earth, 
the  Christians  at  the  south  will  vindicate  themselves  as 
the  benefactors  of  the  colored  race.  A  great  amount  of 
influence  at  the  south  is  ready  to  assert  its  power  in  this 
direction  as  soon  as  the  necessity  of  self-defence  is  taken 
away  by  the  restoration  of  sympathy  and  kindness  on 
our  part.  Far  better  than  to  rend  this  Union  into  two 
hostile  republics,  or  to  let  the  south,  by  separating  our 
selves  from  her,  accomplish  by  herself  what  might  be 
her  destined  ministry  toward  the  colored  race,  there  is  a 
way  of  peaceful  agreement  and  of  union  to  do  an  im 
mense  amount  of  good  to  the  colored  people,  which  we 
may  reach  if  God  will  but  hold  us  back  awhile  from 
our  precipitancy. 

We  had  in  1850  three  millions  two  hundred  and  four 
thousand  three  hundred  and  thirteen  slaves  in  the  United 
States,  and  in  1860  we  shall  have  not  far  from  nine  hun 
dred  thousand  more  ;  for  their  increase  for  the  last  ten 
years  was  at  the  rate  of  twenty-eight  and  eight  tenths 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  119 

per  centum.     They  cannot  be   emancipated  to  remain 
here.     It  would  be  to  their  misery  and  destruction. 

SECTION  II.  —  Results    to  be   expected  from  Emanci 
pation. 

The  conviction  forced  itself  upon  my  mind  at  the 
south,  that  the  most  disastrous  event  to  the  colored 
v  people  would  be  their  emancipation  to  live  on  the  same 
\  soil  with  the  whites. 

The  two  distinct  races  could  not  live  together  except 
by  the  entire  subordination  of  one  to  the  other.  Pro 
tection  is  now  extended  to  the  blacks ;  their  interests 
are  the  interests  of  the  owners.  But  ceasing  to  be  a 
protected  class,  they  would  fall  a  prey  to  avarice,  suffer 
oppression  and  grievous  wrongs,  encounter  the  rivalry 
of  white  immigrants,  which  is  an  element  in  the  question 
of  emancipation  here,  and  nowhere  else.  Antipathy  to 
their  color  would  not  diminish,  and  being  the  feebler 
race,  they  would  be  subjected  to  great  miseries. 

All  history  shows  that  two  races  of  men  approaching 
in  any  considerable  degree  to  equality  in  numbers  can 
not  live  together  unless  intermarriages  take  place.* 
The  Sabine  women  prepared  the  way  for  the  admission 
of  the  Sabines  to  Rome,  and  gave  them  a  place  among 
the  conscript  fathers.  Alexander,  having  conquered 
Persia,  married  the  Persian  Roxana,  and  thus  lessened 
the  social  distance  between  the  new  provinces  and 
the  original  empire.  Alaric,  Clovis,  Henry  I.  of 
England,  in  Italy,  Gaul,  and  among  the  Saxons,  re 
spectively,  resorted  to  the  same  policy  of  intermarriage 

*  Carey's  Domestic  Slavery. 


120  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

for  the  same  purpose.  The  long  dissensions  between 
the  Normans  and  Saxons  under  William  Duke  of  Nor 
mandy  and  William  Rufus  disappeared  when  the  two 
races  followed  the  example  of  Henry.  We  know  the 
happy  results. 

On  the  other  hand,  Egypt  and  Israel,  the  Hebrew 
people  and  the  nations  conquered  by  them,  the  Span 
iards  and  Moors,  many  modern  nations  and  the  Jews, 
prove  the  impossibility  of  two  races  living  together  un 
less  one  race  is  dependent,  or  they  intermarry.  Like 
the  Moors  and  the  Jews,  the  blacks  would  eventually  be 
driven  out.  Even  now,  in  some  places  at  the  south 
the  free  blacks  are  prohibited  by  the  laws  of  certain 
crafts,  the  stone  cutter's  for  example,  from  lifting  a  tool 
in  their  work.  White  servants  are  exclusively  employed 
in  one  of  the  largest  hotels  at  the  south. 

The  fighting  propensity  of  the  lower  class  of  the 
Irish  would  expose  the  blacks  to  constant  broils  through 
the  rivalry  of  labor.  The  following  is  a  specimen :  — 

IRISH  AND  NEGRO  Row  IN  BUFFALO.  —  There  was  a 
protracted  and  somewhat  bloody  fight  yesterday  afternoon, 
on  the  dock  at  the  foot  of  Washington  Street,  between 
some  negroes  and  Irishmen.  The  parties  were  about 
equal  in  point  of  numbers  when  the  affair  began  ;  but  the 
Irish  soon  collected  in  great  force,  and  considering  it  a 
free  fight,  counted  themselves  in,  until  poor  Cuffee  had 
not  a  ghost  of  a  chance.  Three  of  the  negroes  were  bad 
ly  beaten,  one  of  them  to  such  an  extent  that  it  was  sup 
posed  he  must  die;  but  he  is  better  this  morning,  and  will 
probably  recover.  Some  six  or  eight  of  the  combatants, 
black  and  white,  were  before  the  justice  this  morning, 
with  a  large  number  of  witnesses  to  complicate  the  inves 
tigation.  It  seems  to  have  been  a  sort  of  spontaneous 
outbreak,  without  any  other  cause  than  the  mutual  jeal 
ousy  and  dislike  subsisting  between  the  Celtic  and  Afri 
can  races.  Before  the  police  were  able  to  suppress  the 
row,  something  like  a  thousand  persons  had  collected,  be 
sides  those  directly  engaged  in  the  affray. — Buffalo  Ad 
vertiser ',  June  5,  1854. 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  121 

It  would  not  be  strange  if,  as  the  least  evil,  and  to 
prevent  their  being  exterminated,  or  driven  out,  as  John 
Randolph's  emancipated  slaves  and  other  companies  of 
emancipated  negroes  have  been,  by  one  free  State  after 
another,  or  leading  a  wretched  life  like  that  of  our  New 
England  Indians,  it  should  be  considered  best  for  all 
concerned  that  they  should  enter  again,  after  being 
emancipated,  irito~~s6~me  form  of  subordination  to  the 
whites.  Their  present  bondage,  with  all  its  evils,  real 
or  supposed,  it  would  then  be  seen,  is  by  no  means 
the  worst  condition  into  which  they  could  fall. 

Their  women  would  be  debased  without  measure  if 
set  free.  So  far  from  being  surprised  at  any  degree 
of  looseness  in  morals  among  the  slaves,  one  can  only 
feel  grateful  for  the  influences  of  religion  and  so  much 
of  public  sentiment  as  prevail  among  them  to  keep  so 
large  a  proportion  of  them  virtuous,  as,  considering  their 
temperament  and  their  place  in  society,  it  is  believed 
exists.  But  let  them  be  thrown  wholly  upon  their  own 
resources  for  subsistence,  or  subjected  to  the  idle  life 
which  they  would  be  tempted  to  lead,  and  the  probable 
consequence  to  the  blacks  and  whites,  and  to  their  pos 
terity,  would  be  fearful. 

As  an  ardent  friend  of  the  colored  race,  I  am  com 
pelled  to  believe  that  while  they  remain  with  us,  sub 
ordination  in  some  form  to  a  stronger  race  is  absolutely 
necessary  for  their  protection  and  best  welfare  —  a  subor 
dination,  however,  which  shall  be  for  the  interests  of  the 
black  man,  as  well  as  for  his  superiors,  and  from  which 
every  degree  of  oppression  shall  be  purged  away,  the 
idea  of  their  being  doomed  as  a  race  or  caste  being 
abolished,  and  individual  tendencies  and  aptitudes  being 
regarded.  If  our  southern  brethren  will  protect  and 
provide  for  them  for  this  world  and  the  next,  we,  as 


122  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

friends  of  man,  should  feel  that  we  owe  them  a  debt  of 
gratitude  and  should  be  willing  to  assist,  if  necessary,  in 
promoting  their  welfare. 

Suppose,  then,  that  we  begin  to  take  some  new  view 
of  our  duty  with  regard  to  slavery,  having  long  enough, 
and  uselessly,  and  injuriously  enough  beleaguered  and 
battered  it,  only  to  find,  in  1854,  that,  in  spite  of  all 
our  efforts  and  prayers,  it  is  taking  a  stride  more  vast 
and  astonishing  than  ever.  A  physician  who  had  failed 
in  his  course  of  treatment,  as  we  have  with  slavery, 
would  ordinarily  change  it.  Perhaps  we  are  wrong. 
If  our  aim  is  good,  perhaps  we  can  effect  it  in  a  better 
way  —  a  way  in  which  the  south  itself  will  cooperate 
with  us.  Perhaps  this  whole  continent  can  be  paci 
fied  on  this  subject  consistently  with  truth  and  right 
eousness,  and  to  the  increased  happiness  of  all  con 
cerned. 


SECTION  III.  —  Social  Divisions  deplored. 

May  we  see  the  day  when,  like  mercy  and  truth,  the 
north  and  south  shall  meet  together,  and  righteousness 
and  peace  shall  kiss  each  other.  There  is  real  respect 
for  the  north,  and  attachment  to  it,  on  the  part  of  the 
south,  when  they  are  not  reminded  of  differences  of 
opinion  about  slavery.  They  earnestly  covet  our  ad 
vantages  of  education  for  their  children,  whom  they 
would  be  glad  to  send  here  during  some  portion  of 
their  school  days  ;  but  non-intercourse,  except  for  pur 
poses  of  trade,  greatly  prevails.  Teachers  from  the 
north  are  sometimes  subject  to  the  jealousies  and  un- 
kindness  of  those  who,  having  no  personal  interest  in 
their  object  as  teachers,  look  upon  them  as  spies,  and 
deprecate  the  influence  over  young  persons  and  ser- 


A    SOUTH-SIDE     VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  123 

vants  which  the  natural  repugnance  of  these  northern 
teachers  to  slavery  may  silently  exert. 

The  privileges  of  our  sea-shore  retreats,  so  highly 
prized  by  southerners,  are  not  enjoyed  by  them  as 
formerly.  There  are  cases  of  real  suffering  in  which 
many  people  at  the  south  feel  themselves  debarred 
from  our  northern  means  of  health  and  comfort. 

How  sad  it  made  me  feel  to  see  the  great  Baptist 
communion  in  our  country  divided  by  this  slavery 
question ;  and  when  my  soul  was  melted  by  the  elo 
quence  of  Methodist  brethren  preaching  Jesus  to  the 
slaves,  it  was  painful  to  think  that  the  same  plough 
share  had  furrowed  a  deep  line  of  separation  between 
them  and  their  northern  friends ;  nor  could  I  without 
sorrow  hear  members  of  those  Presbyterian  churches  of 
the  south,  which  still  prefer  to  cooperate  with  the 
American  Board  of  missions,  lament  that  the  Board  can 
not  consistently  send  its  agents  into  slave  States  to 
foster  the  spirit  of  missions.  O  thou  enemy  of  God  and 
man,  what  joy  must  it  be  to  thee  in  this  way,  and  by 
this  means,  to  have  rent  asunder  God's  elect,  prevent 
ing  them,  too,  from  affectionate  counsel  and  effort  for 
the  good  of  the  African. 

What  communion  we  used  to  have  with  southern 
friends  here !  But  now  they  feel  and  act  as  though 
accused  of  crime.  Indeed  every  where  in  the  south, 
where  you  get  access  to  the  hearts  of  the  people,  there 
is  something  like  the  sorrowful  moaning  of  the  sea,  as 
though  there  had  been,  or  would  yet  be,  a  great  tempest. 

I  felt  that  we  had  not  treated  the  south  as  we  would 
desire  to  be  treated  —  as  human  nature  requires  to  be 
treated;  that  we  had  not  spoken  to  her,  or  dealt  with 
her,  as  we  ought  to  have  done. 


124  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

On  what  subject,  except  slavery,  has  the  south  ever 
divided  from  the  north,  in  Congress  or  out  of  Congress, 
in  war  or  peace  ? 

What  pride  we  have  had  in  her  patriots,  statesmen, 
and  scholars,  and  what  fellowship  with  her  sainted 
dead  ! 

What  a  goodly  land  she  possesses  ;  what  historical 
associations  belong  to  her  ;  what  resources  of  wealth  are 
there  ;  what  renown  by  sea  and  land ;  in  cabinets,  at 
home  and  abroad ! 

If  the  south  should  by  any  means  obtain  and  keep 
the  ascendency  in  our  national  councils,  in  what  way 
would  she  have  the  power  and  disposition  to  conflict 
with  northern  interests,  leaving  the  subject  of  slavery 
and  our  sensibilities  out  of  the  question  ? 

With  regard  to  what  are  called  the  encroachments  of 
the  slave  power,  the  demands  of  the  south,  are  they  at 
all  to  our  injury  except  as  they  offend  our  opinions  and 
feelings  on  the  subject  of  slavery?  Political  appoint 
ments  would  be  made  with  less  of  a  sectional  spirit  if 
we  were  at  peace. 

One  would  think  that  the  south  were  Philip  of  Mace- 
don,  and  we  at  the  north  the  states  of  Greece,  judging 
from  our  philippics  against  her.  But  her  great  offence 
is,  independently  of  every  thing  else,  the  perpetuation 
of  an  evil  under  which  both  of  us  were  born,  but  which 
we  at  the  north  were  enabled  to  remove ;  an  effort  on 
the  part  of  the  south  to  defend  and  maintain  her  insti 
tution  of  slavery  under  the  constitution  :  to  maintain  the 
right  guarantied  by  our  social  compact,  but  assailed  by 
us.  We  seem  to  have  forgotten  how  the  royal  family 
of  the  mother  country,  the  king  and  queen  at  the  head, 
and  many  of  the  nobles,  contributed  toward  the  first 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  125 

importation  of  slaves  from  Africa  to  this  country ;  how 
Jefferson  in  his  first  draught  of  the  Declaration  of  Inde 
pendence,  charges  the  king  with  making  depredations 
on  an  innocent  people,  and  inflicting  them  as  slaves  on 
us ;  and  IIOAV,  at  the  close  of  the  war,  we  at  the  north 
lengthened  out  the  importation  of  slaves  to  the  south 
beyond  the  term  voted  for  by  a  majority  of  the  Southern 
States.  Nor  do  we  consider  that  the  south  was  approx 
imating  the  work  of  emancipation  by  public  discussions, 
by  acts  of  assembly  drawn  up  and  ready  to  be  proposed, 
and  by  votes  in  her  ecclesiastical  bodies,  when  the  out 
break  of  northern  opposition  to  slavery,  and  attempts  to 
emancipate  the  slaves  at  once,  drove  back  the  south 
from  her  purpose,  and  that  all  her  subsequent  attempts 
at  the  extension  of  slavery  have  been  intended  as  retal 
iatory  acts,  or  in  self-defence. 

This  is  true  up  to  the  time  of  the  Nebraska  bill  and 
the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  compromise,  measures  capa 
ble  of  no  defence.  The  hitherto  indomitable  attach 
ments  of  party  are  yielding  to  the  stronger,  the  uncor- 
rupted  sense  of  violated  truth.  The  accumulating  force 
of  public  opinion  is  sweeping  down  upon  all  who  dare 
defend  that  disregard  of  those  principles  which  every 
man  needs  for  his  protection. 

It  is  not  yet  time,  but  the  day  may  not  be  distant, 
when,  with  sorrow^  over  our  vanquished  opponent  in  this 
Nebraska  measure,  we  shall  begin  to  think  whether  we 
have  not  extended  our  retaliatory  feelings  too  indiscrim 
inately  against  southern  men.  For,  after  all,  the  peo 
ple  at  the  south  generally  took  but  little  interest  in  the 
Nebraska  measure.  I  was  in  South  Carolina  when  the 
news  of  the  passage  of  the  Nebraska  bill  arrived ;  and 
it  was  received  with  almost  no  sensation,  except  where 


126  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

the  struggle  Lad  been  watched,  and  there  the  decision 
of  course  brought  relief.  But  a  very  frequent  expres 
sion  was,  '  It  is  a  great  pity  that  our  politicians  should 
have  stirred  up  this  strife ;  we  were  doing  very  well 
before;  it  will  make  trouble  for  us,  and  we  shall  gain 
nothing.'  It  deserves  to  be  considered  that  politicians 
at  the  south  lead  the  people  far  more  than  with  us.  We 
have  more  popular  assemblages;  public  opinion  is  ascer 
tained  more  readily,  and  is  brought  to  bear  more  forci 
bly  upon  public  men  here.  Besides,  at  the  south,  the 
towering  names  and  influence  of  a  long  succession  of  ac 
complished  statesmen  have  given  the  people  more  of  ac 
quiescence  in  their  political  leaders.  Immigration  and 
the  general  weakening  of  all  political  relationships  are 
every  where  effecting  a  change  in  this  respect.  But 
should  we  punish  the  south  for  the  acts  of  her  politicians, 
for  which,  indeed,  she  must  be  held  responsible,  the  peo 
ple  generally  would  not  be  conscious  of  having  done  any 
thing  to  deserve  chastisement. 

Then  with  regard  to  some  of  those  who  at  home  ad 
vocated  the  measure.  While  we  look  at  it  as  extending 
a  great  curse  over  a  territory  dedicated  to  freedom,  some 
of  them,  who  are  not  influenced  by  political  considera 
tions,  take  no  such  view  of  slavery,  but  think  of  a  plant 
er  removing  to  Nebraska  with  slaves,  as  of  a  Massachu 
setts  man  removing  to  Rhode  Island  with  his  appren 
tices.  This  does  not  extenuate  their  disregard  of  our 
feelings  and  opinions,  but  may  serve  to  lower  the  tone 
of  our  retaliation  as  against  the  whole  southern  people. 

This  breach  of  national  faith  is  so  remarkable  that  it 
places  itself  among  those  convulsions  in  the  moral  world 
which  under  God  have  prepared  the  way  for  great  de 
velopments  in  the  destiny  of  a  people.  What  good  will 


1 

A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  127 

ever  result  from  it,  or  what  its  evil  cpiisequences  may 
be,  human  foresight  cannot  discover.  /If  some  great  de 
velopment  of  Providence  with  regard  to  the  African 
race  in  connection  with  the  American  people  were  ap 
proaching,  we  should  connect  the  two  things  in  our 
thoughts,  and  wait  for  the  result.  Let  us  think  of  this. 

O  / 

We  look  at  the  Africans  only  as  slaves ;  God  looks  at 
them  as  immortal  beings.  We  legislate  about  them  as 
a  basis  of  representation ;  God  plans  for  them  as  sub 
jects  of  redeeming  love.  Our  thoughts  are  absorbed  by 
their  sufferings  in  slavery;  God  contemplates  them  in  a 
worse  bondage,  and  would  bring  them  into  his  family. 
If  he  has  any  further  designs  for  the  good  of  their  race 
by  our  means,  this  beginning  of  a  revelation,  this  open 
ing  of  a  seal,  has  taken  place  with  as  little  violence,  as, 
under  the  circumstances,  we  could  have  expected. 

Fraudulent  as  we  declare  the  Nebraska  measure  t:> 
have  been,  yet  considering  the  violent  opposition  to  the 
fugitive  slave  law  at  the  north,  we  can  not  wonder  that 
southern  politicians  caught  at  it,  when  oir'ered  to  them 
by  northern  men,  as  affording  a  defence  to  slavery  at 
home  against  the  north.  AVliat  had  the  south  done  to 
injure  us,  except  through  our  sensibilities  on  the  subject, 
of  slavery  ?  What  have  we  done  to  her,  but  admonish, 
threaten,  and  indict  her  before  God,  excommunicate 
her,  stir  up  insurrection  among  her  slaves,  endanger  her 
homes,  make  her  Christians  and  ministers  odious  in 
other  lands  ?  And  now  that  she  has  availed  herself  of  a 
northern  measure  for  her  defence,  we  are  ready  to  move 
the  country  from  its  foundations.  We  ought  to  reflect, 
whether  we  have  not  been  enforcing  our  moral  senti 
ments  upon  the  south  in  offensive  ways,  so  as  to  consti 
tute  that  oppression  which  makes  even  a  wise  man  mad. 
9 


128  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

All  this  time  we  have  overlooked  the  intrinsic  diffi 
culties  of  the  evil  which  the  south  has  had  to  contend 
with ;  have  disagreed  among  ourselves  about  sin  per  se, 
and  about  the  question  of  immediate  or  gradual  eman 
cipation,  and  yet  have  expected  the  south  to  be  clear  on 
these  points,  and  to  act  promptly.  Previous  to  her  re 
cent  conduct,  instead  of  being  more  passionate  and  re 
vengeful  under  such  treatment,  it  is  rather  to  be  wondered 
at  that  the  south  had  conducted  herself  so  well.  What 
had  she  ever  done,  except  in  self-defence,  in  our  long  quar 
rel,  which,  upon  reconciliation,  would  rankle  in  our  mem 
ories,  and  make  it  hard  for  us  to  forgive  and  forget  ? 
Positively,  not  one  thing.  We  have  been  the  assailants, 
she  the  mark ;  we  the  prosecutors,  she  the  defendant ; 
we  the  accusers,  she  the  self-justifying  respondent. 

Unless  we  choose  to  live  in  a  state  of  perpetual  war, 
we  must  prevent  and  punish  all  attempts  to  decoy  slaves 
from  their  masters.  Whatever  our  repugnance  to  sla 
very  may  be,  there  is  a  law  of  the  land,  a  Constitution, 
to  which  we  must  submit,  or  employ  suitable  means  to 
change  it.  While  it  remains,  all  our  appeals  to  a 
"higher  law"  are  fanaticism. 

SECTION  IV.  —  Return  to  the  Constitution, 

We  must  return  to  that  simple  provision  in  that 
Constitution  which  cemented  our  confederation.  We 
must  do  this,  or  break  up  the  compact.  If  enactments 
are  necessary  to  enforce  this  provision,  they  must  not 
trench  upon  other  rights.  They  must  especially  guard 
every  free  man  from  having  his  liberty  put  in  peril.  The 
common  gratuity  of  justice  to  every  accused  person  — 
presumption  of  innocence  —  must  be  extended  to  the 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  129 

colored  man  under  arrest.  We  must  review  our  doings 
on  this  subject,  and  come  to  an  agreement,  by  which  the 
provisions  of  the  Constitution  shall  be  enforced  with  the 
least  possible  ground  of  objection.  The  north  will  never 
rest  till  some  obnoxious  features  in  the  present  fugitive 
slave  law  are  changed. 

We  are  liable  to  imposition  from  colored  men  through 
strong  sympathy  for  fugitive  slaves.  Cases  are  known 
in  which  the  same  set  of  papers  has  been  used  by  differ 
ent  colored  men  to  collect  money.  In  a  city  of  Mas 
sachusetts,  there  were  not  long  since,  and  probably  are 
now,  several  hundred  dollars,  which  a  colored  man,  pre 
tending  to  be  a  fugitive  slave,  had  collected ;  but  being 
exposed,  he  has  since  been  afraid  to  appear  and  claim 
the  money,  though  he  has  employed  various  means  to 
come  into  possession  of  it. 

We  must  not  think  that  every  fugitive  slave  is  neces 
sarily  and  properly  the  object  of  compassion,  to  be 
cherished  and  caressed ;  that  his  master  is  a  proper 
object  of  aversion.  Some  at  the  north  have  sympa 
thized  with  a  fictitious  being  in  the  person  of  a  fugitive 
slave.  I  will  relate  a  case  of  deep  interest,  well  known 
at  the  south,  and  representing  other  cases  which  in  our 
zeal  we  overlook. 

A  slave  came  to  the  door  of  a  rich  gentleman,  an  ex 
cellent  man,  in  a  southern  city,  representing  that,  being 
in  feeble  health  and  unable  therefore  to  do  his  master's 
work,  he  had  obtained  leave  from  his  master  to  become 
this  gentleman's  servant  if  he  would  buy  him.  The 
gentleman  did  not  need  him,  but,  from  compassion, 
bought  him,  and  favored  him  in  his  labor.  Some  time 
after,  on  going  with  his  family  to  the  north,  he  took  this 
slave  with  him,  chiefly  because  it  would  be  for  his  health. 


130  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

While  at  the  north,  the  servant  came  to  him,  and  asked 
for  money  to  buy  some  articles  for  his  wife  at  home.  He 
received  some  money,  and  that  night  deserted  his  mas 
ter,  and  was  brought  before  the  court  to  have  his  free 
dom  effected  by  his  friends. 

The  master  stated  to  the  court  that  the  servant  was 
of  hardly  any  value  to  him ;  at  present  he  was  an  ex- 
pence  and  burden;  and  that  he  was  perfectly  willing 
to  abandon  him,  though  he  expressed  his  opinion  of  such 
conduct  on  the  part  of  the  slave,  and  his  apprehension 
that  freedom  would  not  prove  to  be  his  greatest  bless 
ing.  He  obtained  his  freedom. 

Had  that  slave  fled  to  my  house  for  refuge  the  even 
ing  that  he  left  his  master,  and  had  I  known  all  the  cir 
cumstances  of  his  case,  would  I  have  done  well  to  har 
bor  or  countenance  him  ? 

"  Certainly,"  replies  one  ;  "  to  be  owned  as  property  by 
a  fellow-being  is  a  greater  wrong  than  any  theft,  ingrati 
tude,  or  unkindness,  of  which  he  may  be  guilty.  I  would 
deliver  him  from  bondage,  then  reprove  him,  and  let  him 
suffer  for  his  wrong  doing." 

But  for  the  conclusion  of  the  story.  When  the  mas 
ter  was  returning  to  the  south,  the  weak,  sickly  man 
came  to  him,  and  besought  him  to  take  him  back.  He 
protested  that  he  had  had  enough  of  freedom,  that  he 
had  been  imposed  upon  by  his  friends,  and  that  he 
should  be  miserable  to  be  left  behind. 

Should  his  master  have  yielded  to  his  request  ? 
"  No,"  says  one ;  "  he  had  no  right  to  own  a  fellow-being 
as  a  slave;  not  even  to  support  him  without  any  remu 
neration,  or  to  nurse  him  in  sickness,  or  to  pension  him 
for  life  from  his  estate.  Better,  far  better,  to  do  right 
than  to  do  kindly.  Fiat  justitia  mat  ccelum." 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  131 

The  master  at  first  declined  to  receive  him,  but  final 
ly  referred  him  to  the  ladies  of  the  family,  through 
whose  influence  he  obtained  leave  to  go  back.  He  was, 
however,  told  by  his  master  to  return  to  his  "friends," 
and  consult  with  them,  and,  if  he  concluded  to  go  back 
to  the  south,  to  be  on  board  the  steamer  by  a  certain 
hour.  Early  the  next  morning  he  secretly  hired  a  car 
riage  and  went  on  board,  and  is  now  at  the  south. 

All  that  I  saw  and  heard  has  brought  me  to  this  con 
clusion  —  that,  in  aiding  a  fugitive  slave  on  his  way  to 
Canada,  if  at  all,  I  must  know  whom  I  am  helping,  and 
for  what  reasons  he  has  fled.  I  do  not  feel  as  I  once 
did,  that  his  fleeing  from  slavery  is  presumptive  evi 
dence  that  he  ought  to  be  assisted  to  escape.  On  his 
arrest  he  ought  to  be  presumed  to  be  free  till  he  is 
proved  to  be  a  slave.  We  must  insist  on  this  ;  we  have 
free  colored  citizens  who  otherwise  may  be  kidnapped ; 
but  a  fugitive  slave  may  owe  service  to  one  who  has  re 
deemed  him,  at  his  own  request,  from  a  bad  master,  or 
in  other  ways  laid  himself  under  obligations,  which  he 
violates  in  fleeing,  as  much  as  any  fugitive  debtor.  A 
fugitive  slave  is  not  necessari]}",  nor  as  a  matter  of 
course,  an  object  of  compassion  ;  it  is  not  certain  that 
he  has  fled  from  a  bad  to  a  better  condition ;  that  free 
dom  in  Boston  is  invariably  preferable  to  slavery  in 
Charleston. 

We  of  the  free  States  are  too  apt  to  invest  a  slave, 
especially  a  fugitive,  with  an  interest  which  may  be 
overwrought ;  to  our  eye  he  is  the  incarnation  of  injured 
innocence ;  liberty,  priceless  liberty,  is  personated  in 
him ;  to  have  fled  from  a  master  at  the  south  is  incon 
testable  evidence,  in  our  eyes,  that  he  is  a  true  man,  con- 


132  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

tending  for  Heaven's  boon,  freedom,  and  in  his  proportion 
he  seems  worthy  of  a  place  with  patriots. 

All  this  seems  humane  and  philanthropic ;  it  reads 
well ;  in  a  speech  it  brings  applause,  in  a  sermon  tears ; 
but  now  and  then  it  is  likely  to  be  misplaced  philan 
thropy,  the  sheerest  of  romancing,  and  practically  great 
unkindness  to  its  object.  There  are  colored  men  and 
women  at  the  north  and  west  who  have  fled  from  brutal 
treatment,  such  as  would  make  any  human  being  risk 
death  in  any  shape  to  escape  from  it.  Masters  acknowl 
edge  this,  and  men  who  are  guilty  of  the  treatment  re 
ferred  to  are  as  much  detested  and  avoided  at  the  south 
as  the  bad  members  of  any  craft  with  us  are  by  their 
fellows.  Should  a  fugitive  bring  me  proof  that  he  was 
fleeing  from  certain  planters  whom  I  could  name,  my 
instinctive  feeling  would  be  the  same  as  in  pulling  a 
shipmate  away  from  a  shark.  Southerners  would  feel 
in  the  same  way.  No  rule  was  ever  made  that  could 
determine  a  man's  duty  in  such  cases.  If  we  go  to  the 
Bible,  we  find,  on  the  one  hand,  Hagar,  sent  back,  not  to 
Abraham,  but  to  Sarai,  her  mistress,  who  had  "  dealt 
hardly  with  her ;  "  and  she  is  told  to  "  submit "  herself 
"  under  her  hands."  Again :  the  Apostles  are  repeatedly 
set  free  from  prison  by  divine  interposition.  Socrates 
refuses  an  opportunity  to  escape,  and  gives  his  reasons 
for  remaining  in  prison  and  drinking  the  hemlock  ;  while 
a  hundred  cases  in  which  good  men  have  acted  other 
wise  are  not  condemned  by  the  voice  of  mankind.  We 
can  not  settle  questions  on  this  subject  by  a  rule  any 
more  than  we  can  give  a  rule  for  revolutions.  There  are 
some  things,  however,  pertaining  to  this  subject,  which 
are  clear.  Our  error  at  the  north  is  in  supposing  that 
every  fugitive  must  be  presumed  to  be  worthy  of  aid  in 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  133 

effecting  his  escape.  Romantic  adventures,  by  women 
as  well  as  men,  in  secreting  and  sending  away  safely  a 
fugitive  slave  sometimes  have  the  thrilling  interest  of  the 
rescue  of  a  child  from  a  burning  house,  or  from  the 
waves  ;  when,  perhaps,  great  injustice  and  unkindness 
have  been  perpetrated.  Some  children  escaping  from 
parents,  some  wives  from  husbands,  would  properly  be 
protected  and  aided,  the  world  over  ;  but  we  may  as 
justly  aid  in  every  case  of  elopement,  or  get  a  voyage 
for  every  runaway  boy,  as  help  every  fugitive  slave.  If 
called  upon  by  a  sheriff  to  aid  in  capturing  a  fugitive  of 
any  description,  I  have  a  right  to  decide  whether  I  will 
not  refuse,  and  abide  the  penalty  of  a  refusal. 

Every  man  can  abate  a  nuisance  without  waiting  for 
a  process  of  law  ;  but  he  must  convince  the  court  that  it 
was  a  nuisance  which  would  not  admit  of  delay.  If  he 
proves  this,  he  is  justified.  On  this  principle  we  may 
help  any  fugitive  slave ;  but  we  are  held  to  answer 
before  a  higher  law  than  that  of  man  whether  the 
circumstances  justified  us  in  setting  aside  or  resisting  the 
laws  of  the  land.  If  not,  though  we  may  escape  in  hu 
man  courts,  our  sin  against  God,  through  his  ordinance 
of  government,  remains. 

After  we  have  said  and  done  all  which  it  is  possible 
for  human  wisdom  to  do  in  making  the  recovery  of 
slaves  inoffensive,  as  things  now  are,  there  will  remain 
in  many  the  deep  sectional  difference  of  inborn  feel 
ings  with  regard  to  the  whole  subject ;  and  it  can  never 
cease,  as  now  viewed  by  both  sides,  from  being  a  source 
of  disquietude,  resulting  in  alienations  and  unnumbered 
private  and  public  evils,  unless  we  all  agree  to  abide 
faithfully  by  the  Constitution  until  it  is  changed.  It 
offends  our  moral  sense,  we  will  suppose,  to  have  a 


134  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

mail  who  has  tried  to  escape  and  be  free,  taken  back 
to  involuntary  servitude.  But  there  are  other  in 
terests  for  moral  sense  to  be  concerned  about  besides 
those  of  a  fugitive  black  man.  Until  we  are  sepa 
rated  from  the  south  by  dividing  the  Union,  while  we 
live  under  our  present  Constitution,  our  moral  sense 
must  be  more  intelligent  and  comprehensive.  We  may 
well  be  reminded  that  moral  sense  agreed  in  1787,  for 
the  sake  of  certain  objects  which  could  not  otherwise  be 
accomplished,  to  suffer  in  silence,  and  let  persons  held  to 
service  and  escaping  be  recovered.  Now,  to  rouse  our 
selves  up,  and  say  it  shall  not  be  done,  is  treacherous. 
We  have  obtained  the  benefits  of  constitutional  gov 
ernment  ;  and  shall  we  now  repudiate  the  compro 
mise  by  which  they  were  gained?  A\re  may  use  all 
proper  means  to  have  slavery  abolished ;  but  while  it  re 
mains  as  it  now  is,  we  must  submit  to  the  recovery  of 
fugitive  slaves,  or  to  anarchy,  or  to  dissolution  of  the 
Union.  All  appeals  to  our  feelings,  on  this  subject, 
when  the  case  of  a  fugitive  slave  is  pending,  are  as  really 
out  of  place,  if  the  object  be  to  hinder  the  process  of 
law,  as  appeals  against  a  sheriff's  doings  in  attaching 
and  selling  private  property. 

Can  any  one  inform  us  where  northern  moral  sense 
was,  or  whether  it  was  in  the  convention  when  the  north 
protracted  the  slave  trade  eight  years  longer  than  the 
south  wished  to  endure  it  ?  If  in  the  convention,  it 
must  have  had  leave  of  absence  when  the  vote  on  that 
measure  was  taken.  It  is  now  very  clamorous  in  every 
debate  on  slavery,  and  it  ought  to  be  called  to  order, 
being  reminded  that  its  silence  or  consent  in  1787,  works 
a  forfeiture  of  all  right  of  remonstrance  now,  at  least 
till  it  has  raised  money  enough  to  pay  for  three  hundred 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  135 

thousand  slaves  which  are  here  in  consequence  of  those 
eight  years  during  which  the  slave  trade  was  contin 
ued  by  northern  votes. 

When  a  slave  has  fled,  and  established  himself  in  busi 
ness  here,  and  a  family  is  rising  around  him,  an  attempt 
to  force  him  back  to  slavery  does  violence  to  the  feel 
ings  of  every  citizen.  If  a  statute  of  limitations  with 
regard  to  debts,  libels,  land  titles,  and  other  things,  is 
founded  on  natural  principles  of  justice,  we  may  expect 
that  when  a  better  state  of  feeling  exists  between  the 
north  and  south,  we  shall  obtain  a  statute  of  limitations 
with  regard  to  the  recovery  of  slaves.  Until  that  time, 
cases  of  a  trying  nature  must  be  provided  for  in  an 
amicable  manner.  It  is  easy  to  clamor  about  such  cases, 
but  it  is  Aviser  to  treat  them  as  we  do  other  trials  ;  and 
these  certainly  are  among  the  afflictions  which  are  not 
relieved  by  violence. 

A  distinguished  advocate,  defending  a  fugitive  slave 
before  a  court,  urged  this  as  a  reason  why  the  slave 
should  not  be  given  up  —  that  he  might  be,  or  would  be, 
sold  by  his  master  as  soon  as  he  should  arrive  in  a  south 
ern  State. 

This  would  be  a  proper  and  commendable  motive  in 
defending  one  not  yet  proved  to  be  a  slave;  but  if  urged 
as  a  reason  why  the  slave,  being  proved  such,  should 
not  be  delivered  to  his  master,  it  expresses,  with  all  its 
kindness  and  tenderness,  the  principle  of  mob  law. 
Soft  and  gentle,  like  thistle  down  it  has  a  seed  of  evil 
for  its  centre.  What  though  the  probability  were  that 
the  slave  would  be  sold  at  auction  as  soon  as  he  could 
be  taken  over  the  boundary  line  of  a  slave  State  ?  The 
Constitution  of  the  United  States  must  not  be  nullified 
in  its  fugitive  slave  provision  for  that  reason,  unless  we 


130  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

seek  to  make  a  revolution.  "We  must  go  to  work  in 
another  way  to  make  things  accord  with  our  sense  of 
justice ;  and  if  that  way  be  slow,  it  is  the  only  Avay  to 
prevent  still  greater  evils.  Until  we  divide  the  Union, 
or  procure  a  change  in  the  Constitution,  if  we  resist  one 
of  its  provisions  from  repugnance  to  it,  and  so  nullify 
it,  we  make  a  breach  in  a  dam  which  has  behind  it  a 
desolating  river.  That  lawyers  should  do  or  counsel 
this,  not  from  professional  necessity,  but  moved  by 
their  sensibilities,  fills  even  some  clergymen  with  sur 
prise.  Our  clerical  calling  cherishes  our  sensibilities, 
makes  them  quick  and  impulsive  ;  but  a  lawyer  is  sup 
posed  to  discriminate  between  what  is  specially  benevo 
lent  and  the  obligations  which  we  owe  to  the  social  com 
pact  :  from  him  we  expect  to  learn  that  an  unlawful 
way  of  seeking  a  supposed  good  is  fraught  with  a  de 
structive  principle,  before  which  every  thing  may  be  laid 
waste.  That  compassion  for  a  fugitive  slave  which  leads 
one  to  abrogate  the  constitution  of  society  is  not  benev 
olent,  nor  does  it  secure  respect  from  any  but  radicals 
—  a  class  of  men,  in  all  ages  of  the  world,  who  have  uni 
formly  failed  to  secure  the  confidence  of  mankind. 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  137 


CHAPTER    XI. 

NEW  POSSIBLE    ISSUES   ON  THE    SUBJECT   OF 
SLAVERY. 

AND  can  there  be  no  end  to  our  division  and  strife 
with  regard  to  this  subject  ?  Are  AVC  to  spend  the  rest 
of  this  century  debating  it  and  contending  over  it? 
None  can  describe  the  vast  harm  which  it  has  done  to 
all  our  social  relations.  It  has  been  the  occasion  of  more 
unkind  feelings  and  words,  probably,  than  any  other  sub 
ject  ;  it  has  alienated  friends,  divided  great  ecclesiastical 
communions,  disturbed  the  peace  of  churches  and  par 
ishes,  led  to  the  dismission  of  ministers,  driven  many 
into  infidelity,  embarrassed  legislation,  filled  great  sec 
tions  of  the  country  with  jealousy  of  each  other,  con 
sumed  the  strength  and  zeal  which  were  needed  to  rem 
edy  evils  among  ourselves,  and,  at  the  present  time,  is 
threatening  us  with  greater  mischief  than  ever  before. 

The  question  which  has  hitherto  absorbed  our  thoughts 
has  been,  "  In  what  way  shall  slavery  be  disposed  of 
consistently  with  the  safety  and  interests  of  this  nation?" 
This  question  seems  as  far  as  ever  from  a  satisfactory 
answer. 

Perhaps  it  may  not  be  long  before  different  questions 
will  be  forced  upon  our  attention,  which,  while  they  will 
gratify  and  satisfy  the  interest  of  good  men  in  the  sub 
ject  as  moral  and  philanthropic  questions,  will  unite  us 


138  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

at  the  north,  and  also,  by  the  national  relation  of  the 
subject,  with  the  south. 

Let  us  then  imagine  for  a  few  moments  that  the  north 
and  south,  through  some  unforeseen  harmonious  influence, 
are  actually  losing  all  other  thoughts  upon  tthis  subject 
in  their  interest  on  this  question,  "  What  duties  do  the 
American  people  owe  to  the  African  race  here  and  else 
where  ?  "  It  is  a  question  which  the  providence  of  God, 
in  the  remarkable  history  and  continuance  of  slavery  in 
this  country,  may  have  intended,  from  the  beginning,  to 
force  upon  our  attention. 

We  may  be  too  impatient  with  regard  to  the  con 
tinuance  of  American  slavery.  Mingled  with  the  sys 
tem  there  are  mitigating  elements  which  we  do  not  suf 
ficiently  consider  ;  but  above  and  beyond  this  there  are 
hopeful  and  even  cheerful  views  of  it  for  those  who  will 
connect  it  with  their  belief  in  the  sure  progress  of  hu 
man  redemption.  The  continuance  to  the  present  time 
of  slavery,  unprotected  by  old  feudal  institutions,  but 
surrounded  by  the  popular  influences  of  such  a  land  and 
such  an  age  as  this,  its  evident  strength,  its  step  ad 
vancing  against  such  powerful  opposition,  must  awaken 
thoughtfulness  in  the  minds  of  all  who  are  disposed 
to  reflection.  Is  this  system  to  be  utterly  abolished?  or 
can  it  be  that  in  some  form  it  is  connected,  in  the  mys 
terious  purposes  of  God,  with  his  great  plan  of  good  will 
toward  men,  and  especially  toward  the  African  race  ? 
The  contemplation  of  this  question  in  a  candid  spirit 
will  soothe  our  feelings  and  modify  our  views  and 
measures  with  regard  to  this  great  national  concern. 
<•  Could  this  question,  in  some  practical  form,  get  pos 
session  of  the  public  mind,  it  is  evident  that  antagonism 
between  the  north  and  south,  on  the  subject  of  slavery, 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  139 

would  soon  be  destroyed.  "  The  expulsive  power  of  a 
new  affection,"  as  a  theologian  has  expressed  it,  is  constant 
ly  illustrated  in  change  of  personal  habits  and  character, 
in  love,  in  business,  and  religion  ;  attachments,  seeming 
ly  invincible,  to  certain  views,  are  at  once  and  wholly 
destroyed  by  the  entrance  of  a  new  master  passion. 

Never  can  the  instincts  of  people  unused  to  slavery 
be  overcome  by  argument ;  never  can  the  most  law- 
abiding,  patriotic  submission  at  the  north  to  the  recov 
ery  of  slaves  cease  to  be  accompanied,  in  the  minds  of 
many,  with  repugnance  and  distress,  so  long  as  they  re- 
lain  their  present  associations  with  slavery.  On  the 
other  hand,  a  southerner,  looking  at  the  slaves  from 
childhood,  regarding  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  as  the  rule  by  which  we  are  to  be  governed, 
can  not  appreciate  our  difficulties.  Discussion  may  pro 
ceed  without  end  and  in  vain.  No  limit  seems  possible 
to  disagreement  on  the  subject  of  slavery  ;  claims 
founded  upon  it  and  resisted,  irritating  acts,  and  unkind, 
hostile  words  threaten  to  make  the  days  of  the  years  of 
the  life  of  this  nation,  like  those  of  Jacob,  however  pro 
tracted,  seem  few  and  evil.  Some  great  question  is 
capable  of  so  absorbing  our  minds  as  to  have  all  the 
effect  of  agreement  on  the  subject,  by  leading  us  to  act 
efficiently,  and  on  a  large  scale,  for  the  welfare  of  the 
African  race  here  and  on  the  continent  of  Africa. 

The  object  is  not  to  propose  any  way  in  which  this 
may  be  effected,  but  merely  to  suggest  the  possibility  of 
such  relief.  God  can  arrest  the  career  of  our  present 
thoughts  and  purposes  on  this  subject  by  some  surpris 
ing  event  of  his  providence  toward  us  or  toward  that 
people.  His  Spirit  changes  the  views  and  feelings  of 
individuals,  makes  entire  revolutions  in  the  opinions  of 


140  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

whole  communities,  brings  stillness  and  fear  upon  the 
hearts  of  men  at  the  approach  of  divine  judgments,  fills 
multitudes  with  solemn  religious  impressions  by  means 
of  some  providential  event.  It  is  in  his  power  to  bring 
over  the  entire  mind  of  this  nation,  agitated  by  the  sub 
ject  of  slavery,  a  calm  like  that  of  twilight ;  he  can 
make  us  drop  our  contentions  and  forget  our  differences 
by  some  influence  of  his,  as  at  the  curfew  knell  the 
Britons  covered  their  fires.  With  men  this  is  impossi 
ble  ;  legislation,  ecclesiastical  censures,  compromises,  dis 
cussions,  political  parties,  can  not  do  it ;  but  it  can  be 
done  by  Him  in  whose  works,  at  the  beginning,  darkness 
preceded  the  light,  and  by  whose  appointment,  in  private 
experience  and  in  great  national  histories,  it  is  the  same 
now  as  when  "  the  evening  and  the  morning  were  the 
first  day." 

It  would  not  be  a  more  surprising  event  than  the  de 
velopment  of  the  California  enterprise  within  a  few 
years  past,  if  some  development  in  Africa  should  draw 
attention  to  it  in  connection  with  the  employment  of 
portions  of  our  colored  people  there.  The  possibility 
of  this,  and  of  many  other  ways  of  relief  which  \vill  oc 
cur  to  a  reflecting  mind,  should  help  our  faith  and  pa 
tience.  Instead  of  contending  with  one  another,  and  en 
dangering  our  future  means  of  doing  good  to  the  colored 
race  through  impatience  at  present  and  temporary  evils, 
necessary,  in  the  providence  of  God,  as  it  may  prove, 
to  prepare  us  all  for  his  further  benevolent  purposes,  let 
us  endeavor  to  heal  the  breaches  between  us,  and  inter 
change  kind  words  and  deeds. 

Africa  is  still,  to  a  great  extent,  a  land  of  bondage. 
Three  millions  and  a  quarter  of  her  children  are  slaves 
in  Brazil,  nine  hundred  thousand  in  the  Spanish  colonies, 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  141 

eighty-five  thousand  in  the  colonies  of  Holland,  a  hun 
dred  and  forty  thousand  in  European  establishments  in 
Africa,  and  over  three  millions  in  the  United  States. 

Here,  then,  is  a  member  of  the  human  family  whom 
God  in  his  sovereignty  has  for  five  centuries  suffered  to 
bow  its  neck  to  other  races.  The  susceptibility  of  these 
people  to  servitude  should  touch  the  hearts  of  their  fel- 
low-men,  and  stir  them  up  to  defend  and  protect  them. 
The  reverse  of  this  has  been  the  history  of  their  treat 
ment  ;  but  there  is  a  day  of  redemption  at  hand ;  they 
will  see  good  according  to  the  days  in  which  they  have 
seen  evil. 

Amid  all  the  tumultuous  excitement  on  the  subject  of 
American  slavery  and  the  din  of  approaching  conflict,  I 
cannot  help  looking  at  the  south  as  the  appointed  pro 
tectors  of  this  feeble  member  of  the  human  family. 
Brought  to  them  indeed  in  transgression,  and  subjected 
to  every  injury,  the  importation  of  them  protracted  by 
northern  votes  eight  years  against  the  wishes  of  the 
south,  the  great  law  of  human  progress  is  nevertheless 
reaching  them.  Instead  of  regarding  the  south  as  hold 
ing  their  fellow-men  in  cruel  bondage,  let  us  consider 
whether  we  may  not  think  of  them  as  the  guardians,  edu 
cators,  and  saviors  of  the  African  race  in  this  country. 

Only  they  who  have  been  brought  up  with  them  from 
childhood  are  qualified,  as  a  general  thing,  to  succeed 
well  in  the  care  and  management  of  them.  The  com 
mon  remark,  that  slaveholders  from  the  free  States  are 
the  worst  masters,  has  honorable  exceptions,  owing  to 
moral  qualities  in  certain  men  which  sustain  them  amidst 
great  trials  of  patience  ;  to  which  trials,  ordinarily,  one 
must  have  been  used  from  infancy,  not  to  be  intol 
erant  and  severe  toward  the  slaves.  A  man  from  New 


142  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

England,  accustomed  to  have  his  orders  obeyed  promptly 
and  with  the  faithfulness  which  self-interest  dictates,  finds 
it  hard  to  bear  the  slack  manner  of  that  "  eye  service  " 
against  which  an  Apostle  admonishes  "  servants."  If 
we  are  to  do  further  good  to  the  African  race  in  this 
country,  we  must  be  obliged  to  our  southern  brethren 
and  sisters  to  do  it  for  us. 

We  frequently  meet  with  the  proposition  to  bring  over 
Asiatic  free  laborers  to  supplant  the  Africans.  If  the 
object  of  this  be  to  drive  out  slavery  and  the  colored 
race  with  it,  we  shall  gain  nothing  in  the  matter  of  races 
by  taking  the  Asiatics  in  the  place  of  the  Africans,  nor 
will  the  condition  of  the  Asiatics  here  long  be  any  more 
agreeable  to  them  and  to  us  than  slavery  now  is. 

The  revival  of  the  trade  in  African  negroes  is  men 
tioned  now  and  then  at  the  south ;  but  it  will  be  in  time 
to  discuss  that  scheme  when  it  is  seriously  entertained 
by  any  Christian  nation. 

Among  the  strange  and  extremely  improbable  things 
which  are  sometimes  proposed,  the  voluntary  immigra 
tion  of  Africans  to  our  southern  regions,  if  any  one  could 
bring  it  about  and  make  it  acceptable  to  the  south,  would 
no  doubt  be  for  the  good  of  that  race. 

The  immigration  of  Africans  to  the  south  would  be 
better  than  that  of  coolies,  or  any  other  new  race,  while 
their  labor  might  be  equally  cheap,  being  essentially 
free  labor  under  strong  regulations,  and  obviating  the 
present  enormous  and  increasing  expense  of  buying  the 
person  of  the  colored  man.  It  is  by  no  means  certain 
that  some  great  change  in  the  system  of  black  labor,  on 
account  of  the  great  prices  demanded  for  slaves,  will  not 
be  indispensable  if  the  cotton  interest  in  this  country  is 
to  con  inue. 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF     SLAVERY.  143 

It  is  only  because  it  is  hardly  safe  to  deny  that  any 
thing  is  possible,  that  we  say  it  may  turn  out,  after  all, 
as  some  suppose,  that  God  has  ordained  us  to  receive 
the  African  race  still  more  extensively  for  their  benefit 
and  ours,  as  we  already  are  as  an  asylum  to  the  op 
pressed  and  poor  of  other  lands.  His  plan  seems  to  be, 
that  suffering  nations  shall  resort  hither.  As  we  give 
the  wheat-growing  districts  to  the  Europeans,  perhaps 
the  tropical  regions  on  this  continent  are  to  be  the  tem 
porary  abode  of  the  African,  from  which  he  will  go 
forth,  as  Moses  did,  to  look  upon  his  brethren  and  de 
liver  them.  How  they  are  to  come,  and  whether  they 
will  be  received,  is  not  considered. 

We  have  reason  to  pause  and  wonder  at  the  ill  suc 
cess,  hitherto,  of  efforts  to  rid  ourselves  of  the  blacks ; 
and  moreover  the  providence  of  God,  the  God  of  nature 
and  the  God  of  nations,  with  respect  to  that  great  staple 
of  commerce,  our  cotton,  is  worthy  of  consideration.  It 
is  not  unfrequently  the  case  that  the  word  cotton  is 
made  a  byword ;  it  is  spoken  with  a  sneer ;  it  is  cotton, 
we  are  told,  that  keeps  three  millions  in  bondage,  and  it 
is  denounced  as  the  foe  of  human  liberty.  Now,  the 
great  God  that  formed  all  things  has  seen  fit  to  con 
nect  that  single  product  with  the  comfort  and  happiness 
of  a  large  portion  of  the  earth,  and  by  its  connection 
with  mercantile  exchanges,  being  eighty-six  per  cent  of 
all  that  is  raised  on  the  whole  earth,  it  exerts  a  preemi 
nent  influence  upon  the  world's  commerce.  The  rainy 
season  in  the  East  Indies  occurs  at  a  part  of  the  year 
which  makes  it  impossible  for  that  district  of  the  earth 
to  compete  with  us  in  the  supply  of  this  article ;  we  are 
appointed  to  this  work;  the  south  was  about  to  free 
herself  of  her  slaves  ;  northern  interference,  seeking  to 
10 


144  A.    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF     SLAVERY. 

hasten  the  day,  prevented  it,  perhaps  forever ;  and  now 
we  will  not  dispute  with  those  who  say  that  the  south, 
and  other  portions  of  our  land  and  continent,  are,  per 
haps,  to  be  the  nursery  of  millions  more  of  Africans,  for 
their  present  and  eternal  good,  and  for  the  increasing 
supply  of  the  world  with  a  great  necessary  of  life. 
Perhaps,  in  future,  the  failure  of  southern  efforts  at 
emancipation  may  be  the  occasion  of  unparalleled  good 
to  that  race,  by  bringing  us  to  unite  in  the  only  com 
promise  that  will  save  us  from  ruin  and  them  from  pro 
tracted  misery.  That  which  we  do  not  know  can  not 
bring  us  much  comfort ;  yet  we  admit  that,  could  we 
bring  the  slaves,  every  where,  through  our  example  and 
efforts,  under  the  social  and  religious  influences  which 
many  of  the  slaves  at  the  south  enjoy,  it  would  be,  in 
fact,  breaking  every  yoke.  At  all  events,  let  us  look 
above  sectional  and  political  considerations.  There  is  a 
stone  cut  out  of  the  mountains  without  hands  which  is 
destined  to  fill  the  earth.  Oppression  will  flee  before 
it ;  and  whatever  relation  the  colored  man  may  sustain 
to  the  white  man,  it  must  be  only  such  as  will  be  for 
the  benefit  of  both.  We  must  not  be  prejudiced  by  our 
associations  with  the  word  slavery,  but  consider  what 
the  nature  and  influences  of  the  relation  designated  by  it 
are ;  and  if  necessary  hereafter,  whether  our  brethren,  the 
colored  men,  may  not  be  related  to  us  even  more  exten 
sively  than  now,  as  dependent  objects  of  a  benevolence 
which  this  nation  will  be  so  fully  prepared  to  render, 
in  view  of  the  wrongs  and  woes  of  which  we  have 
been  the  occasion. 

Then,  the  north  and  the  south  having  a  common  aim 
with  regard  to  the  African  race,  every  thing  in  the 
nature  of  oppressive  laws  made  necessary  by  the  self- 


A    SOUTH-SIDE   VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  145 

defence  of  one  section  of  the  country  against  the  other, 
and  all  usages  not  approved  by  an  enlightened  and  be 
nevolent  mind,  will  be  done  away. 

Then  that  cause  of  endless  irritation  and  war,  as 
things  now  are,  escape  from  the  south,  will  be  harmoni 
ously  adjusted ;  and  it  is  impossible  to  see  in  what  other 
way  it  ever  can  cease  to  divide  and  embroil  us. 

Then  the  long-vexed  question  about  the  right  of  man 
to  hold  property  in  man  will  forever  cease  among  us  by 
our  universal  agreement  to  stand  in  the  relation  to  the 
African  as  a  stronger  and  more  highly  favored  brother. 

Then  our  brethren  and  friends,  those  noble  and  brave 
spirits  who  emigrate  from  us  to  the  new  Territories,  in 
stead  of  rushing  to  shut  the  gates  against  slaveholding 
immigrants,  will  be  relieved  of  all  apprehension  of  con 
flict  by  a  general  agreement  what  portions  of  our  un 
settled  lands  will  be  most  favorable  for  the  African  race 
in  connection  with  white  men. 

Then  this  most  perplexing  subject,  which  irritates  and 
divides  us  against  each  other  at  the  north,  and  arrays 
the  north  and  west  against  the  south,  will  be  taken  out 
of  the  way.  God  hasten  it  in  his  time. 

We  may  yet  thank  and  bless  the  south  for  being 
willing  to  continue  her  relation  to  the  colored  race ;  it 
may  yet  seem  to  us  one  of  the  greatest  illustrations  of 
divine  wisdom  in  the  affairs  of  men  that  she  was  pre 
vented  from  throwing  off  the  blacks. 

Some  of  these  reflections  may  serve  to  nourish  hope, 
keep  us  from  desperation  or  despondency,  make  us  for 
bearing,  and  teach  us  to  connect  every  thing  in  the 
affairs  of  the  world  with  the  beneficent  plan  of  God 
and  the  sure  law  of  human  progress.  No  one  can  tell 
the  result  of  this  agitation  on  the  subject  of  slavery ; 


146  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

but  no  one  can  consider  its  remarkable  history  and  not 
feel  that  there  may  be  some  great  design  in  it  which 
will  satisfy  those  who  prefer  the  will  of  God  to  their 
own  philosophy. 

If  any  of  the  foregoing  new  schemes  which  are  now 
afloat  for  the  Africans  may  be  pronounced  visionary,  as 
they  seem  to  be,  it  is  a  relief,  at  least,  to  have  a  slight 
variety  in  our  fanaticism  on  this  subject,  which  has  been 
more  fruitful  of  fanaticism  than  any  other  subject  in 
our  history. 

One  thought  only  shall  be  added  here.  Past  events 
teach  us  that  this  whole  subject  is  a  great  deep  ;  and  we 
have  had  sufficient  admonition  to  be  very  humble  and 
patient  as  to  future  disclosures  in  connection  with  it. 
He  who  insists  upon  any  definite  scheme  with  regard  to 
the  subject  seems  as  sure  to  draw  upon  himself  a  just 
suspicion  of  unsoundness  of  mind  as  he  who  professes 
to  have  a  key  to  Daniel  or  the  Apocalypse. 


A    SOUTH-SIDE   VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  147 


CHAPTER    XII. 

DISSUASIVE   FROM   INTERFERENCE    WITH   THE 
SOUTH. 

THE  north  must  take  the  first  step  in  pacifying  the 
country  on  this  subject ;  and  to  some  it  will  seem  to  be 
a  backward  step. 

We  must  begin  to  be  "  friends  of  the  master,"  if  we 
would  be  truly  "  friends  of  the  slave."  Our  only  way 
of  benefiting  the  slave  is  through  his  master. 

Let  us  then  think  of  that  great  body  of  Christian  men 
at  the  south,  who  are  perfectly  competent  to  manage  this 
subject,  and  meet  their  accountability  to  God  without 
our  help. 

The  Presbyterian,  the  Methodist,  the  Baptist,  the 
Episcopal  ministry  there  are  a  goodly  fellowship  of 
men,  who,  if  drawn  up  over  against  us  northern  minis 
ters,  would  strike  a  feeling  of  diffidence  in  us,  to  say 
the  least,  with  regard  to  any  bold,  hasty  imputation  of 
injustice,  cruelty,  or  enormous  wrong;  men  who  know 
more  than  we  can  tell  them  about  the  evils  of  slavery ; 
who  are  incapable  of  being  seduced  or  overawed  by 
wickedness;  and  who  are  fully  competent  to  struggle 
with  the  evils  of  the  system,  and  to  reform  them,  with 
out  one  word  of  exhortation  or  advice  from  us;  and 
whose  daily  prayer,  with  regard  to  us,  is,  that  if  there  be 
any  consolation  in  Christ,  if  any  bowels  of  mercies,  we 


148  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

would  let  them  alone.  Remember  what  they  said  and 
did  before  we  drove  them  to  personal  self-defence. 
Mingle  with  them  as  friends,  and  not  as  antagonists  ; 
hear  them  preach  and  pray;  talk  with  them  as  you 
loiter  in  the  woods,  or  ride,  or  sail ;  and  let  them  tell 
you,  as  they  will  be  sure  to  do,  all  their  burden  on  this 
subject,  and  compare  it  with  what  you  see  in  the  streets, 
and  in  families,  and  in  all  the  unconstrained  intercourse 
of  society ;  and  you  will  be  sure  to  feel  that  the  greatest 
kindness  which  we  at  the  north  can  bestow  upon  the 
slaves,  is  to  be  no  longer  the  seeming  enemies,  the  cen 
sors,  the  civil  and  ecclesiastical  judges  of  the  masters. 

"We  must,  therefore,  change  our  manner  and  tone  with 
regard  to  the  south,  and  study  ways  to  signify  such  a 
change.  One  expression  of  kind  feeling,  one  frater 
nal  act  on  the  part  of  the  north  toward  the  south,  in 
exchange  for  the  almost  unremitted  expressions  of  dis 
pleasure  with  which  she  is  addressed,  would  do  much  to 
restore  a  good  understanding,  not  by  its  influence  at  the 
south,  but  by  putting  ourselves  into  a  more  suitable 
attitude.  Any  thing  like  inviting  the  south  to  a  com 
promise  on  this  subject,  or  obtaining  from  her  a  promise 
that  certain  things  shall  be  done  on  certain  conditions,  is 
absurd.  We  must  of  our  own  selves  correct  the  spirit 
and  manner  in  which  we  have  conducted  toward  her. 

Little  things  may  involve  great  principles,  and  are 
connected  with  important  effects  ;  and  therefore  the  fol 
lowing  obvious  illustration  of  what  has  now  been  said 
will  not  be  considered  trivial. 

There  is  one  form  of  unkindness  and  hardship  in 
flicted  on  southerners,  which,  for  the  good  effect  the 
change  would  have  upon  ourselves,  we  shall  do  well  to 
remove. 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OP    SLAVERY.  149 

We  will  suppose  that  a  husband  at  the  north  is  ad 
vised  to  take  his  wife  to  the  south  for  several  months, 
to  save,  or  at  least,  prolong  life.  She  has  a  young  and 
only  child.  There  is  a  domestic  in  the  family,  between 
whom  and  the  child  there  has  been  and  is  an  attach 
ment  almost  romantic,  and  in  whom  the  parents  place 
unlimited  trust,  who,  besides  her  valuable  services  to  the 
patient,  will  make  the  child  happy,  and  so  relieve  the 
mother  wholly  of  care.  The  privilege  of  taking  such  a 
domestic  to  a  distant  part  of  the  country,  under  such 
circumstances,  is  beyond  price. 

Now,  there  are  husbands  and  wives  at  the  south  in 
corresponding  circumstances.  To  spend  the  hot  season 
on  our  seaboard,  or  at  the  water-cures,  seems  necessary 
to  save  life.  They  have  a  colored  nurse,  who  is  to 
them  all  that  the  domestic  just  mentioned  is  in  her 
place ;  and  no  one  could  be  more.  The  nurse  knows 
no  happiness  compared  with  ministering  to  this  family ; 
but  she  is  in  law  a  slave.  A  slave  can  not  set  foot  in 
Massachusetts,  for  example,  without  being,  by  that  act, 
free,  and  may  go  or  come  at  pleasure.  Were  this  family 
sure  that  no  inducements  would  be  offered  to  draw  this 
nurse  away  from  them  clandestinely,  they  would  take 
the  risk  of  her  deserting  them.  But  to  have  a  vigilance, 
committee  about  their  premises  at  the  north,  tampering, 
with  the  woman ;  to  miss  their  nurse  suddenly  when 
their  need  may  be  sorest ;  to  follow  the  habeas  corpus 
and  the  crowd  to  court ;  and  to  be  gazetted,  and  to  see 
the  happiness  for  life  of  an  estimable  servant  put  in 
jeopardy  through  some  powerful  temptation,  or  sudden 
indiscretion,  induces  them  to  forego  the  privilege  of 
taking  her  with  them,  and  either  to  endure  the  trouble 
and  risk  of  obtaining  a  suitable  nurse  at  the  north,  or 
to  stay  at  home. 


150  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

It  is  easy  to  see  that  there  is  a  large  amount  of  incon 
venience  and  suffering  occasioned  by  such  liabilities, 
which  is  not  of  course  published,  but  to  which  northern 
ers  would  submit  with  very  poor  grace.  We  desire  to 
guard  against  the  possibility  of  slavery  being  reestab 
lished  in  Massachusetts,  as  might  be  the  case  if  slaves 
were  brought  into  the  State  to  remain  indefinitely,  at  the 
pleasure  of  the  master  or  mistress.  This  self-defence  we 
can  not  yield.  But  it  seems  hard  if  some  good  under 
standing  can  not  be  had,  to  the  effect  that  travelers  from 
the  south,  visitors,  are  to  be  protected  in  the  enjoyment  of 
services  rendered  by  members  of  their  families,  who,  if 
left  to  themselves,  would  not  exchange  their  condition, 
with  its  name  slavery,  for  any  thing  under  the  name  of 
freedom.  Now,  they  must  either  stay  at  home  or  leave 
their  favorite  servants  behind  them  —  the  skillful  driver, 
the  almost  physician,  who  has  dressed  the  chronic  sore 
for  months ;  the  maid,  who  is  a  rival  with  the  mother  in 
the  child's  love ;  this  must  be  foregone,  because  of  our 
practice  of  waylaying  with  the  habeas  corpus  every 
colored  servant  from  the  south. 

Let  our  people  be  appealed  to  against  this  injustice 
and  unkindness.  Legislation  can  not  well  remedy  the 
evil,  especially  if  its  only  remedy  be  the  poor  donation 
of  leave  to  stay  a  few  weeks,  and  no  more,  with  a  slave 
at  the  north,  as  some  of  the  free  States  have  enacted. 
This  concession  makes  visitors  from  the  south  feel  that 
they  are  under  obligations  to  us  for  that  which  ought  not 
to  be  placed  on  the  ground  of  permission. 

Would  that,  for  our  own  sakes,  we  could  enjoy  the 
pleasure  more  frequently  of  becoming  acquainted  with 
the  citizens  of  the  south  in  their  domestic  relations. 
We  are  becoming  mutually  repulsive,  through  northern 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  151 

jealousy  and  fear.  Are  we  afraid  that  the  sight  of  the 
happy  relation  subsisting  between  masters  and  their 
slaves  will  make  our  people  in  love  with  the  institution  ? 
Would  that  all  could  see  instances  of  such  relationships 
under  this  system.  It  would  do  much  toward  abolishing 
things  objectionable  in  slavery,  by  making  us  discrimi 
nating  and  just  in  our  censure,  if  there  should  be  need 
of  any.  It  would  do  much  toward  satisfying  us  that  the 
south_is  competent  to  manage  this  subject  without  our 
help. 

As  a  dissuasive  from  interference  with  the  south  with 
regard  to  slavery,  it  is  deeply  interesting  to  consider  the 
impulses  of  their  intelligent  and  good  men  in  measures 
of  relief  and  kindness  toward  the  colored  people. 

Notwithstanding  the  powerful  pressure  from  jealousy 
of  northern  interference  with  which  these  impulses  are 
obliged  to  contend,  philanthropy  is  working  out  benevo 
lent  plans  for  the  slaves. 

Men  at  the  south,  in  places  of  influence,  whose  opinions 
have  a  controlling  effect,  are  meditating  the  foUowing 
changes,  among  others,  in  the  slave  code. 

One  is,  to  raise  the  term  of  years  within  which  no 
child  shall  be  separated  from  its  parents.  The  age  pro 
posed  in  the  case  to  which  I  allude,  and  which  would 
have  been  adopted  by  the  legislature  had  it  not  been  for 
some  appeals  with  regard  to  northern  interference,  was 
thirteen.  In  that  State,  a  child  over  five  years  of  age 
may  noAv  be  separated  from  its  parents. 

Another  proposition  generally  entertained  is,  to  forbid 
the  sale  of  a  slave  for  debt.  This  would  prevent,  of 
course,  a  vast  proportion  of  painful  separations.  It 
would  greatly  change  the  nature  of  slavery. 

Another  proposition  is,  that  slaves  shall  by  law  have 


152  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

a  right  of  release  from  a  cruel  master,  as  provided  for 
by  slave  codes  of  some  otlier  nations. 

In  recent  numbers  of  tlie  New  Orleans  Crescent  we 
find  a  series  of  articles  in  favor  of  giving  the  right  of 
suffrage  to  the  native  free  colored  population. 

But  the  most  interesting  and  important  proposition 
which  is  discussed  in  some  quarters  is  that  of  legalizing 
the  marriage  of  slaves.  There  is  a  strong  sentiment  in 
favor  of  this  measure. 

Surely  there  is  progress  in  a  right  direction  at  the 
south  ;  and  may  we  at  the  north  but  exercise  wisdom 
and  discretion,  we  shall  soon  see  great  changes  in  favor 
of  the  colored  race.  These  changes  have  begun  where 
slavery  has  felt  the  influence  of  the  best  state  of  society ; 
but  they  will  in  time  reach  the  relation  of  master  and 
slave  in  all  the  land. 

Let  us  grant  for  a  moment  all  that  the  strongest  advo 
cates  of  the  right  and  duty  of  intervention  by  the  north 
with  southern  slavery  have  ever  claimed.  It  shall  be 
allowed  that  we  are  accountable  to  God  for  every 
oppression  which  exists  in  our  slave  States,  and  that 
our  first  duty,  to  which  no  claims  at  home,  even,  are 
superior,  is,  to  see  that  this  system  of  slavery  is  vir 
tually  abolished.  What  is  the  best  way  to  accomplish 
the  object? 

We  have  tried  one  method  for  more  than  a  quarter 
of  a  century.  So  long  we  have  been  practising  upon 
our  patient,  and  to-day  the  disease  is  extending  more 
rapidly  than  ever.  Some  practitioners  would,  in  such 
a  case,  have  misgivings  about  the  mode  of  treatment ; 
and  we  may  wrell  indulge  a  similar  distrust. 

If  the  object  be  to  subdue  the  south  as  a  political 
enemy,  and  abridge  her  influence  in  the  general  govern- 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  153 

ment,  the  only  way  is  to  plot  and  counterplot  against 
her  by  means  of  political  organizations  and  party  war 
fare,  and  leave  every  thing  to  the  fortunes  of  the  war. 

But  is  it  the  sincere  and  kind  desire  of  any  to  see 
the  supposed  wrongs  and  woes  of  the  colored  race 
redressed,  and  our  system  of  slavery  purged  of  every 
objectionable  influence,  and  thus,  if  in  no  other  way,  to 
prevent  it  from  further  afflicting  the  white  and  black 
races  ?  Is  this  the  form  of  our  antislavery?  Does  this 
express  the  substance  of  our  abolitionism? 

We  are  sitting  down  like  an  army  before  an  impreg 
nable  wall,  battering  the  gates  and  throwing  bombs  pro 
miscuously  into  the  place.  A  strong  party  within  are 
in  principle  essentially  with  us,  and,  if  suffered  to  exert 
their  influence  unmolested  from  without,  would  effect  all 
that  we  desire.  As  it  is,  they  are  opposed  to  have  their 
houses  and  lives  destroyed  by  our  indiscriminate  shot, 
nor  are  they  willing  that  we  should  inarch  in  and  give 
laws.  Therefore  they  combine  with  their  civil  opponents 
to  resist  their  military  assailants.  Never  will  they  cease 
to  resist  and  oppose  us,  not  for  our  principles,  but  for  our 
mode  of  enforcing  them.  If  conquest  be  not  our  aim, 
or  the  gratification  of  malignant  passions,  but  simply  to 
have  justice  executed,  our  surest  way  to  effect  this  is, 
to  withdraw  our  forces,  and  leave  the  cause  in  the  hands 
of  those  who  but  for  us  would  long  since  have  made  their 
influence  effectual.  This  will  not  prevent  us  from  using 
all  proper  measures  of  simple  self-defence.  To  do  more 
than  this,  under  existing  circumstances,  is  to  perpetuate 
the  evil  which  we  would  see  removed. 

There  are  many  things  in  slavery  which,  as  human 
beings,  fellow-creatures  with  the  slaves,  we  intensely 
desire  to  see  abolished.  Let  no  man  say  here,  "  Why 


ill. 


154  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

take  an  interest  in  my  servants  ? "  But  if  he  says 
this,  we  will  remind  him  of  a  well-known  scene  in  a 
Roman  theatre,  where  these  words  of  a  former  slave,  "  I 
am  a  man,  and  nothing  that  pertains  to  man  do  I  con 
sider  as  not  pertaining  to  me,"  brought  down  thunders 
of  applause.  We  reciprocate,  for  all  his  fellow-servants 
and  fellow-men  every  where,  the  noble  sentiment  of  this 
slave ;  nor  would  pagan  Rome  reprove  us.  Every  week, 
events  within  the  bounds  of  slavery  make  us  cry  out  to 
know  what  can  be  done  to  prevent  them.  Tell  us,  friends 
and  brethren  at  the  south,  what  shall  we  at  the  north  do, 
or  cease  to  do,  to  help  you  prevent  these  enormities  ? 
The  last  that  came  to  the  knowledge  of  some  of  us  was 
a  well-authenticated  case,  in  which  forty  persons,  de 
scendants  of  a  freed  slave,  some  of  whom  had  been  free 
for  thirty  years,  were  to  be  reduced  again  to  slavery,  on 
the  claim  of  one  man.  Can  you  do  nothing  to  prevent 
such  things?  Can  we  help  you,  either  by  act  or  by 
silence  ?  Tell  us  if  we  have  any  duty  whatever  in  the 
case.  If  it  were  the  Greeks,  or  the  Poles,  or  the  starv 
ing  Irish,  or  the  Madiai,  who  were  suffering  these  things, 
you  and  we  would  inquire  at  the  capital  whether,  as  a 
nation,  we  had  no  call  to  interfere. 

We  do  not  wish  to  be  contending  against  brethren  and 
friends  in  a  good  cause.  We  can  not  desire  to  perpetuate, 
by  our  well-meant  endeavors,  the  evils  which  you  and 
we  seek  to  remove.  Who  of  you,  then,  will  speak  out, 
and,  recognizing  the  evils  to  which  we  allude,  show  us 
our  duty  ?  Be  sure  that  your  directions  will  be  grate 
fully  received  and  honorably  regarded. 

It  is  appalling  to  think  of  a  presidential  campaign  in 
which  the  subject  of  slavery,  with  its  potent  sway  over 
human  passions,  shall  be  the  all-absorbing  question.  We 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  155 

are  going  into  battle  with  conscience  exalted  to  absolute 
monarchy  and  dictatorship  ;  conscience,  under  whose 
banner,  in  the  name  of  God,  wars,  persecutions,  tor 
tures,  and  massacres  have  made  the  earth  reel,  and  the 
blood  of  saints  has  reached  to  the  horses'  bridles.  The 
destiny  of  unborn  millions,  as  slaves  or  free,  will  excite 
one  party  beyond  all  former  experience,  and  under  the 
combined  heat  of  conscience,  humanity,  fancy,  sectional 
feelings,  fanaticism,  and  recollections  of  recent  defeat  in 
the  Nebraska  measure,  even  adamantine  bonds  will  melt. 
On  the  other  hand,  domestic  institutions,  homes,  the 
whole  mysterious,  complicated  system  of  life,  in  one  en 
tire  and  united  section  of  the  country,  will  arm  fifteen 
States  of  the  Union  with  a  desperation  such  as  they  only 
feel  who  are  in  the  agony  of  a  last  hope.  Let  us  not 
see  that  contest.  "  The  shields  of  the  earth  belong  unto 
the  Lord." 

There  is  such  a  mixture  of  political  and  moral  questions 
in  this  subject  of  slavery,  that  no  one  can  tell  by  what 
motives  men  are  influenced  in  their  opposition.  Some, 
whose  thoughts  and  purposes  are  wholly  political,  never 
theless  make  use  of  our  sensibility  to  the  moral  relations 
of  the  subject,  and  complicate  the  bare  question  of  the 
moral  character  of  slavery  with  appointments  to  foreign 
political  offices,  and  the  customs,  and  post-offices.  Thus 
they  justly  incur  the  opposition  of  the  south  by  their  in 
vectives  against  slavery,  when  their  chief  objection  to  it 
is  the  influence  which  it  exerts  in  the  government. 
Could  the  subject  become  a  simple  moral  question,  and 
be  discussed  apart  from  politics,  the  jealousy  and  opposi 
tion  of  the  south  would  have  far  less  excitement.  The 
best  thing  which  we  at  the  north  can  do  to  pacify  the 
country,  to  help  the  colored  race,  to  prevent  further 


156  A    SOUTH-SIDE' VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

Nebraska  measures,  and  promote  our  common  interests 
as  a  nation,  is  to  reconsider  our  feelings  and  conduct  in 
times  past  toward  the  south.  A  penitential  state  of 
mind  becomes  us.  In  that  statesman's  manual,  the  Bible, 
there  is  a  passage  of  history  most  pertinent  in  its  appli 
cation  to  us  at  the  north.  The  tribe  of  Benjamin  had 
been  guilty  of  an  "  enormous  wrong  "  in  the  case  of  the 
Levite  and  his  concubine.  The  other  tribes  assembled 
before  God,  prepared  for  war.  Their  question  was, 
"  Which  of  us  shall  go  up  first  to  the  battle  against  Ben 
jamin  ?  "  Not,  Shall  we  go  up  ?  nor,  In  what  way  shall 
we  best  bring  the  offender  to  repentance  ? 

The  answer  was  in  anger.  Thrice  Israel  was  smit 
ten,  and  at  last  the  offending  tribe  was  defeated,  with  a 
slaughter  on  both  sides,  in  the  three  battles,  of  sixty- 
five  thousand  men.  Then  the  nation  wept  over  the 
almost  ruined  tribe,  and  resorted  twice  to  the  stealing 
of  women  from  neighboring  people  to  repair  it. 

So  much  for  unwarrantable  methods  of  redressing 
"  enormous  wrongs  "  in  the  bosom  of  a  nation. 

Let  it  be  repeated,  we  must  not  seek  to  obtain  from 
the  south  any  expression  in  the  way  of  confession,  or 
concession,  or  promise.  "We  are  not  properly  a  ruler 
or  a  judge  over  them,  though  we  have  assumed  both 
offices.  Let  us  adopt  the  principle  that  the  south  is 
competent  to  manage  the  subject  of  slavery,  and  straight 
way  cease  from  all  offensive  action.  Proper  defences 
>  ^  forrree"  colored  citizens  must  be  secured,  and,  if  sought 
v)c^  for,  disconnected  with  the  agitation  of  the  subject  of  sla 
very,  as  a  political  or  sectional  interest,  can  unquestion 
ably  be  obtained.  We  must  put  a  stop  to  the  unlawful 
seizure  of  colored  servants  passing  with  their  masters 
through  a  free  State.  We  must  in  some  way  prevent 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  157 

the  annoyance  to  which  southern  travelers  are  exposed 
of  having  their  colored  servants  enticed  away,  or 
brought  before  the  courts  to  be  emancipated.  Perhaps 
these  things,  in  connection  with  our  whole  manner  of 
treating  the  south,  have  created  a  state  of  mind  in  which 
it  was  easy  to  violate  compromises. 

Two  things  they  do  not  ask  nor  expect  of  us,  viz.,  to 
express  any  approbation  of  slavery,  nor  to  sympathize 
with  them.  A  northerner  at  the  south  soon  perceives 
that,  if  he  feels  and  shows  in  a  proper  manner  a  natural 
repugnance  to  slavery,  they  respect  him  for  it,  while 
they  greatly  suspect  and  distrust  those  from  the  north 
who  seem  in  favor  of  the  system.  Moreover,  any  con 
dolence  with  them  at  the  evils  of  slavery,  or  show  of  in 
terposition  for  their  benefit,  is  wholly  out  of  place. 

A  slaveholder  of  liberal  education  and  great  influence 
at  the  south,  and  withal  an  extreme  defender  of  the 
system  of  slavery,  made  a  declaration,  which,  for  many 
reasons,  impressed  me,  perhaps,  more  than  any  thing 
which  fell  from  the  lips  of  a  southerner.  He  said,  "  If 
the  north  had  directed  its  strength  against  the  evils  of 
slavery  instead  of  assailing  it  as  a  sin  per  se,  it  could 
not  have  survived  to  the  present  day."  This  is  con 
firmed  by  many  witnesses,  and  may  teach  us  wisdom  in 
time  to  come. 

But  our  invectives  against  the  south,  our  exaggerated 
representations  of  slavery,  our  indiscriminate  imputations 
of  connivance  with  its  abuses,  our  political  opposition, 
our  resistance  of  southern  rights  under  the  Constitution, 
and  our  efforts  to  decoy  the  servants,  at  home  and  abroad, 
excite  opposition  which  renders  all  our  desire  for  the 
benefit  of  the  colored  race  in  this  country  entirely  hope 
less.  We  may  drive  the  south  and  her  slaves  from  the 
Union,  but  we  thereby  gain  nothing  for  the  slaves. 


1*58  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 


CHAPTER     XIII. 

INFLUENCE   OF  UNCLE  TOM'S   CABIN  AT  HOME  AND 
ABROAD. 

ONE  thing  which  interested  me  at  the  south  was  the 
spirit  in  which  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin  was  frequently  men 
tioned.  Some  of  the  warmest  advocates  of  slavery  said 
that  they  could  parallel  most  of  the  abuses  in  slavery 
mentioned  in  the  book  out  of  their  own  knowledge  ; 
and  on  speaking  of  some  bad  master,  and  wishing  to 
express  his  tyrannical  character  and  barbarous  conduct, 
they  would  say,  He  is  a  real  Legree ;  or,  He  is  worse 
than  Legree.  The  book  was  mentioned  with  candor, 
and  with  little  appearance  of  wounded  sensibility.  Yet 
many  criticisms  were  made  upon  it,  both  of  a  sectional 
and  general  nature. 

There  was  one  criticism  on  the  plan  of  the  book 
which  may  be  heard  from  every  southerner,  even  from 
those  among  them  who  are  antislavery  men.  The  scene 
with  which  the  book  opens,  they  say,  is  unnatural.  A 
gentleman  embarrassed  and  constrained  to  sell  a  slave, 
and  especially  a  child,  would  not  act  the  part  of  Mr 
Shelby,  in  that  conversation  and  drinking  scene  wThich 
are  described  in  the  first  chapter.  If,  by  the  strangest 
combination  of  events,  he  should  be  led  to  do  it,  he  would 
fling  himself,  with  such  a  slave  and  child,  into  the  hands 
of  a  trader,  in  the  same  state  of  mind  with  which  he 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  159 

would  surrender  his  wife's  wardrobe,  or  her  jewelry,  in 
herited  from  her  mother;  but  to  sit  and  laugh,  and 
hold  up  the  glass,  and  uncork  a  new  bottle  of  wine, 
and  peel  an  orange,  and  haggle  with  a  fiend  like  Ha 
ley,  they  say,  is  not  according  to  human  nature  among 
slaveholders,  in  any  man  who  had  not  himself  become 
a  fiend.  But  above  all,  to  represent  a  southern  gentle 
man,  a  man  having  "  the  appearance  of  a  gentleman," 
"the  arrangements  of  the  house  and  the  general  air 
of  the  housekeeping  indicating  easy  and  even  opulent 
circumstances,"  as  suffering  Haley  to  bid  for  such  a 
woman  as  Eliza,  with  a  view  to  her  peculiar  fitness  for 
the  New  Orleans  market,  "  slapping  Mr.  Shelby  on  the 
shoulder,"  and  coaxing  him  to  let  him  have  her  for  this 
purpose,  it  may  well  be  conceived  by  honorable  and 
virtuous  gentlemen,  is  felt  to  be  an  affront  by  every 
decent  man  at  the  south — a  coarse,  broad,  disgusting 
caricature,  which,  as  a  libel  on  a  community,  they  say, 
hardly  has  a  parallel. 

The  tone  of  fairness  with  which  the  book  is  men 
tioned  at  the  south  makes  one  feel  that  they  have 
reasons  in  their  consciousness  for  protesting  as  they  do 
against  this  part  of  the  book,  or  rather  this  part  of  its 
plan.  The  manner  in  which  the  criticism  is  made  gives 
one  a  favorable  and  deep  impression  of  the  relation  be 
tween  a  master  and  a  good  slave  ;  it  is  not  a  mercenary 
relation.  This  impression  is  confirmed  every  day  in  the 
mind  of  a  visitor,  until,  on  reperusing  the  opening  scene 
in  Uncle  Tom,  he  finds  that  the  representation  of  a 
southerner  with  "the  appearance  of  a  gentleman,  in 
easy  and  even  opulent  circumstances,"  in  connection  with 
the  abominable  talk  and  purposes  of  that  scene,  is  an 
imposition  and  a  cruel  injustice. 
11 


160  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW   OF    SLAVERY. 

"While  many  things  in  the  book  are  paralleled  by 
characters  and  events  at  the  south,  and  while  the  Key 
more  than  proves  it,  still,  like  all  other  novels,  it  de 
ceives.  At  the  north  I  partook  fully  in  the  general 
effect  of  the  book  upon  our  feelings,  as  the  author  knows 
full  well ;  but  at  the  south,  even  after  seeing  or  hearing 
things  like  many  which  are  related  in  the  story,  I  found 
that  still  the  whole  impression  of  the  book  on  my  mind 
was  that  of  a  falsehood.  Perhaps  this  was  in  part  my 
fault  as  a  reader ;  it  is  in  part  the  fault  of  novel  writing, 
its  intrinsic  evil. 

The  first  thing  in  which  I  found  myself  misled  by  the 
impressions  to  which  I  had  yielded  in  the  book,  was 
with  respect  to  the  children  of  the  slaves.  I  had  fixed 
the  image  of  Topsy  in  my  mind  as  the  exponent  of  col 
ored  children,  and  of  Eva  as  their  contrast.  I  supposed 
that  generally  a  black  child  was,  as  Topsy  said  of  her 
self,  "  nothing  but  a  nigger  "  in  its  own  esteem  and  that 
of  the  whites.  I  expected  to  find  in  those  black  children 
imps,  Shakspeare's  Calibans  and  Flibbertigibbets,  a  pro 
voking,  disgusting  brood.  I  was  angry  with  myself  to 
find  how  I  had  suffered  poor  Topsy  to  form  my  notions 
of  childhood  and  youth  among  the  slaves ;  but  I  may  be- 
alone  in  the  impression  which  she  had  the  misfortune  to 
give  me  of  her  race.  I  saw  specimens  of  some,  who, 
with  a  little  change,  in  the  hands  of  a  fictitious  writer, 
would  answer  forTopsys  —  girls  as  disagreeable  and  im 
practicable  as  their  prototype;  but  they  are  the  excep 
tions  ;  there  is  such  a  class ;  Topsy  is  a  fact ;  and  this 
is  all  which  the  volume  intended  to  say,  and  by  no  means 
to  libel  the  whole  rising  generation  among  the  slaves, 
by  setting  forth  Topsy  to  represent  them  to  the  world. 
But  notwithstanding  the  writer's  good  intentions,  she  did 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  161 

not,  she  could  not  limit  the  influence  of  her  book  upon 
the  fancies  and  feelings  of  her  readers.  I  found  myself 
frequently  stopping  to  talk  with  the  black  children,  for 
the  pleasure  of  hearing  them  talk,  and  secretly  feeling 
also,  that  I  owed  them  some  atonement  for  the  injustice 
which  I  had  done  to  them  in  my  thoughts. 

The  next  thing  in  which  I  found  myself  repenting  of 
the  impressions  which,  with  no  such  design  on  the  part 
of  the  writer,  the  book  had  given  me,  was  with  regard 
to  the  influence  of  slavery  on  female  character.  I  did 
not  suppose  that  Mrs.  St.  Clair  was  a  true  picture  of 
southern  women,  for  I  knew  better ;  at  the  same  time, 
when  I  saw  the  women  of  the  south  in  their  families,  on 
their  plantations,  in  their  Sabbath  schools,  and  heard 
them  speak  of  their  servants,  and  found  them  making 
the  garments  worn  by  field  hands,  superintending  the 
distribution  of  food,  nursing  the  sick,  and  enduring  toils 
for  them  to  which  northern  ladies  are  generally  stran 
gers,  I  felt  that  that  miserable  woman  was  out  of  place  in 
any  prominent  connection  with  descriptions  of  southern 
character.  Many,  of  course,  were  the  instances  in  which 
a  character  illustrating  the  entirely  opposite  effects  of 
slaveholding  upon  the  women  of  the  south  occurred  to 
me,  and  so  had  they  done  to  the  narrator  of  Mrs.  St. 
Glair's  biography ;  all  that  I  would  say  is,  I  wondered 
that  such  a  woman  should  have  been  permitted  to  be 
the  prominent  figure  among  her  sex  in  the  antislavery 
romance.  The  writer's  object  was  by  no  means  to  de 
scribe  southern  women ;  no  one  more  than  she  would 
deplore  unjust  impressions  with  regard  to  them  derived 
from  her  writings ;  yet  one  who  has  received  the  natural 
impression  of  the  book  will  find  at  the  south  that  he  dis 
likes  Mrs.  St.  Clair3  for  new  reasons,  more  than  ever. 


162  SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW   OF    SLAVERY. 

And  then,  as  a  whole,  I  found  that  the  book  gives  a 
northerner  false  conceptions  of  the  actual  state  of 
things  at  the  south,  not  excepting  abuses  in  slavery ;  for 
with  respect  even  to  them,  after  reading  the  book,  appari 
tions  will  be  ever  present  to  one's  thoughts,  which  will 
not  be  laid  except  by  going  south.  There  he  sees  that 
'many  things  referred  to  can  and  may  take  place ;  but 
if  he  has  taken  the  book  into  his  mind  almost  as  a  trav 
eler  in  the  East  takes  the  book  of  Joshua,  if  he  expects 
frequently  or  necessarily  to  pattern  after  the  book  in 
his  observations,  he  will  be  displeased  with  himself 
more  than  with  the  writer  at  his  mistake. 

By  using  any  simile  to  illustrate  what  has  now  been 
said,  there  is  danger  of  doing  to  the  reader  what  the 
book  in  question  does  to  us.  But  it  occurred  to  me 
that  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin  was  in  some  sense  like  a  solar 
microscope  applied  to  vinegar.  Fearful  are  the  sights 
thus  revealed  in  that  liquid.  Lizards,  ichthyosaurians, 
and  megalatheria  in  general,  are  there  without  number ; 
and  the  impression  is,  that  the  element  in  which  they 
live  is  appropriate  to  their  dispositions,  for  they  are  evi 
dently  carrying  on  an  internecine  war.  Are  not  those 
things  there  ?  will  you  dispute  the  evidence  of  sight  ? 
is  it  not  the  essential  nature  of  vinegar  to  generate  such 
things  ?  and  will  you  ever  taste  a  drop  of  vinegar  here 
after  ?  This  simile  is  capable  of  great  perversion  and 
abuse ;  and  so  is  the  author's  design  in  the  Cabin. 

The  truth  is,  the  writer  of  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin  is  not 
only  the  foe,  but  the  Defoe,  of  slavery,  and  Uncle  Tom 
is  the  Robinson  Crusoe  of  involuntary  servitude.  Now, 
if  people,  as  far  as  possible  from  the  seaboard,  should 
ask  me  for  a  book  giving  a  true  picture  of  a  sailor's 
experience,  it  would  be  as  fair  to  give  them  Robinson 


A    SOUTH-SIDE   VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  163 

Crusoe  as  to  put  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin  into  the  hands  of  a 
foreigner  who  wished  to  learn  what  American  slavery  ac 
tually  is.  Robinson  Crusoe  is  all  probable,  has  all  been 
verified ;  but  the  journals  of  our  merchantmen  do  not 
ordinarily  correspond  with  the  experiences  of  that  book, 
and  still  every  crew,  in  every  voyage,  is  liable  to  verify 
it  for  substance,  in  every  part  of  the  earth. 

Having  written  the  foregoing  at  the  south,  I  was 
much  interested  a  week  or  two  afterwards,  on  receiving 
the  Boston  Daily  Advertiser,  in  meeting  with  the  fol 
lowing  coincidence  of  opinion  and  expression  in  an 
article  by  one  of  the  respected  editors  of  that  paper, 
being  a  notice  of  an  article  in  the  North  American 
Review  for  April,  on  Robinson  Crusoe :  — 

"  Robinson  Crusoe  has  a  peculiar  interest  to  American 
students,  because  properly  an  American  novel,  written  by 
a  Puritan,  with  its  locality,  scenery,  and  moral  all  strictly 
American.  It  is  worth  remark  that  the  play  Shakspeare 
is  said  to  have  valued  most  was  the  Tempest,  whose 
scenery  is  all  American  also.  The  greatest  English  ro 
mance  and  the  greatest  English  drama  are  ours,  the  first 
fruits  of  the  new  world  to  English  literature. 

"  We  are  tempted  to  add,  as  a  suggestion  to  his  next  re 
viewer,  that  Robinson  Crusoe,  and  the  only  other  English 
romance  which  has  ever  attained  an  equal  popular  circu 
lation,  —  both  novels  of  American  life,  —  illustrate  together 
the  vanity  of  cthe  argument  from  invented  example,'  or 
rather  the  ease  with  which  fiction  may  be  turned  to  sup 
port  either  side  of  a  moral  question. 

"  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin  —  the  only  romance  which  has 
gained  a  popular  circulation  equal  to  Robinson  Crusoe  — 
is  the  history  of  a  slave,  written  to  expose,  and  wonder 
fully  successful  in  exposing,  the  horrors  of  the  slave 
system.  Robinson  Crusoe,  on  the  other  hand,  whom,  every 
reader  loves,  was  a  slave  trader,  shipwrecked  on  a  voy 
age  to  the  6uinea  coast  for  slaves,  which  he  never  re 
gretted  for  its  wickedness  ;  and  one  of  the  features  of  his 
life  for  which  certainly  he  is  least  blamed,  is  his  holding 


164  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

Friday,  whom  he  has  preserved  (servus  quia  servatus  erat) 
as  his  slave.  The  Christian  slave  Uncle  Tom  and  the 
Christian  slaveholder  Robinson  Crusoe  are  the  two  most 
popular  heroes  of  English  romance.  So  little  is  really 
proved  by  the  argument  from  invented  example." 

Let  us  imagine  an  intelligent  community  in  Southern 
India,  where  custom,  we  will  suppose,  had  for  gen 
erations  forbidden  widowers  with  children  to  marry. 
The  proposition  being  made  to  set  aside  this  custom, 
some,  who  are  still  in  favor  of  the  prohibition,  cause 
to  be  translated  and  circulated  a  book  written  in  Amer 
ica  called  the  Stepmother.  It  is  a  novel.  The  author 
having  been  deeply  affected  by  the  acknowledged  mis 
ery  resulting  in  very  many  cases,  from  the  injustice 
and  cruelty  of  stepmothers,  constructs  a  most  thrilling 
tale,  which  makes  more  weeping  than  any  book  of 
its  time.  Objections  having  been  made  to  the  repre 
sentations  in  the  book,  the  author  gives  a  Key  in 
which  she  prints  authentic  letters  detailing  scenes  of 
exquisite  domestic  misery  in  consequence  of  second 
marriages.  Her  novel  is  most  fully  sustained  by  these 
cases ;  and  indeed  the  one  half  has  not  been  told. 

Perhaps  the  nucleus  of  the  story  was  furnished  by  a 
transaction  which  we  all  know  to  be  true,  and  which  at 
the  time  made  a  sensation  that  needed  no  aid  from 
fancy.  An  adopted  boy  told  his  father  of  some  impro 
prieties  which  he  had  accidentally  witnessed  in  his  step- 
dame  in  connection  with  a  gentleman.  The  wife  denied 
it,  and  required  that  the  boy  be  whipped  for  falsehood. 
The  father  was  deacon  of  a  church.  He  whipped  the 
little  fellow  till  a  pool  of  blood  stood  at  his  feet,  the  child 
protesting  his  innocence  and  truthfulness  ;  and  with  his 
dying  accents,  (for  he  died,)  after  saying,  "  I  feel  cold," 
as  the  chill  of  death  came  over  him,  he  said,  "  Dear 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  165 

father,  I  love  you."  The  two  parents  were  at  the  last 
accounts  in  jail  awaiting  their  trial.  I  give  the  nar 
rative  from  memory ;  a  fictitious  case  would  serve  my 
purpose,  but  this  appeared  in  an  authentic  manner 
not  long  since  in  the  papers.  The  writer  of  the  fiction 
which  we  are  supposing  would  need  to  alter  this  case  so 
far  as  to  call  this  adopted  child  an  own  child  of  this 
father,  and  the  woman  a  stepmother.  But,  for  the  vast 
good  which  was  meant  to  be  accomplished,  how  few  fic 
titious  writers  would  consider  it  wrong  to  make  even  so 
essential  an  alteration ! 

No  fictitious  narrative  of  slavery  or  piracy  could 
make  a  deeper  impression  than  a  book  on  this  subject 
written  by  a  female  hand  which  knew  well  how  to  touch 
the  chords  of  the  human  heart,  especially  if  there  were 
interspersed  skillful  representations  of  the  unnaturalness 
of  second  love,  of  the  impossibility  that  maternal  affec 
tion  should  be  imitated,  and  that  where  a  stepmother  has 
children  of  her  own,  there  is  the  strongest  temptation  to 
partiality,  with  other  theoretically  truthful  things  which 
a  woman  of  genius  would  know  so  well  how  to  set  forth. 
The  book,  then,  is  published  in  India. 

Should  visitors  in  India  from  America  be  reproached 
with  this  picture  of  domestic  life  in  second  marriages, 
and  should  they  complain  that  it  is  unjust,  every  mouth 
could  be  stopped  by  the  question,  "  Is  there  a  word  in 
the  book  which  is  not  true  ?  Do  you  deny  the  facts  ?  " 

It  would  all  be  true ;  but  the  common  law  adage 
would  apply,  in  a  sense  different,  it  is  true,  from  its  in 
tended  meaning,  "  The  greater  the  truth,  the  greater  the 
libel." 

Husbands  and  fathers  who  have  found  for  their  moth 
erless  children  second  mothers  whose  disinterested,  im- 


166  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

partial,  generous  love  for  their  stepchildren  approaches 
nearer  than  any  thing  else  on  earth  to  the  ministry  of 
angels,  must  feel  that  such  a  book,  with  all  its  candid 
and  fair  protestations  in  favor  of  the  many  exceptions 
to  the  general  rule  of  the  unnaturalness  of  second  mar 
riages  and  second  mothers,  would  make  a  false  impres 
sion  in  a  country  where  the  whole  truth  could  not  be 
known,  the  necessity  of  second  marriages  be  appreciated, 
and  the  incidental  evils  of  the  relation  in  question,  and 
its  abuses,  be  distinguished  from  its  normal  operation 
under  moral  and  Christian  principle. 

How  natural  and  kind  it  would  be  for  the  women  of 
India,  led  by  that  accomplished  woman,  the  lady  Rajah 
Seringapatam,  to  join  in  an  address  to  the  stepmothers 
of  the  United  States,  deploring  the  existence  of  such 
enormous  wrongs,  and  remonstrating  with  their  Christian 
sisters !  If  the  burning  of  widows  on  the  same  funeral 
piles  with  the  bodies  of  their  husbands  were  at  the  date 
of  the  address  still  practised,  the  sympathy  of  those  East 
Indian  women  with  our  domestic  histories  would  be  bet 
ter  appreciated,  especially  if  the  suttees  should  be  passed 
over  with  but  a  slight  allusion. 

Now,  it  is  not  necessary  to  my  argument  that  this  case 
should  be  shown  to  be  parallel  with  slaveholding  and 
with  a  book  written  to  show  the  evils  of  slavery.  The 
only  point  of  the  illustration  (and  let  nothing  else  be 
confounded  with  it)  is  this  —  that  the  truth,  fairly,  dis 
criminatingly,  kindly  spoken,  and  confirmed  by  more 
than  sufficient  cases,  the  truth  itself  may  operate  most 
cruelly  if  presented  in  the  form  of  fictitious  narrative. 
This  is  an  illustration,  to  those  who  wish  to  use  it,  of  the 
pernicious  influence  of  novels.  We  can  not  describe  a 
character  or  class  of  men  in  any  place  without  imprint- 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  1G7 

ing  almost  the  whole  surface  of  a  reader's  mind  with 
the  image  of  the  persons  described,  so  as  to  fill  his  vision 
whenever  he  hears  of  or  sees  that  place.  Not  to  seem 
like  laying  blame  on  the  writer  of  the  book  in  question 
as  a  sinner  above  all  others,  but  rather  to  comfort  her  in 
view  of  the  harm  she  has  done,  by  a  somewhat  flattering 
illustration,  it  may  be  observed  that,  passing  through 
Coventry,  England,  I  was  sure  that  I  saw  survivors  of 
Falstaff's  ragged  regiment  ;  and  whoever  has  read 
Shakspcare  will  find  them  there  to-day.  One  man,  in 
particular,  stood  as  a  specimen  of  them  in  the  public 
square,  at  six  o'clock  in  the  morning,  in  the  position  of 
erect  and  somewhat  opened  dividers,  his  hands  in  his 
pockets,  his  coat  torn  under  the  right  shoulder  behind. 
I  made  no  question  that  he  was  a  survivor  of  his  regi 
ment.  "  I'll  not  march  through  Coventry  with  them," 
said  Falstaff.  But  I  could  not  help  thinking  that  he 
did,  and  that  some  of  them  had  never  left  the  place. 
That  ancient  regiment,  and  Shakspcare,  and  "  Peeping 
Tom,"  are  no  more  to  blame  for  our  having  few  other 
thoughts  at  first  in  Coventry  except  those  which  are  lu 
dicrous,  than  are  the  Haleys  and  their  inventor,  and 
"  Uncle  Tom,"  for  making  us  project  the  images  of  those 
characters  all  about  us  at  first  in  the  slaveholding  States. 

While  we  confine  the  influence  of  this  imagination  to 
our  private  thoughts,  the  practical  evil,  of  course,  is 
limited,  though  it  is  an  evil ;  for  it  is  not  the  truth  ;  it  is 
not  the  case  as  it  exists. 

But  when  this  wrong  impression,  innocently  made, 
instead  of  being  left  like  a  fugitive  water  color,  becomes 
like  a  water  color  which  is  rolled  over  with  a  chemical 
preparation  to  sink  and  fix  it ;  when  a  romance  is  followed 
by  a  book  of  facts  to  prove  the  tale,  and  this  originally 


1G8  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

wrong  impression  becomes  an  exasperated  conviction 
leading  us  to  take  counsel  and  revolutionize  a  country, 
to  exscind  whole  communities,  to  fill  the  air  over  their 
heads  with  imprecations  to  Heaven  for  vengeance  upon 
them  —  it  behooves  us  to  pause  and  see  whether  our 
premises  are  true ;  whether  other  things  equally  true  do 
not  so  modify  the  case,  as  presented  in  the  novel,  that 
the  fiction  becomes  false  and  injurious.  With  all  my 
feelings  in  favor  of  the  work  referred  to,  and  against 
our  system  of  slavery,  on  going  to  the  south  as  a  place  of 
refuge  in  sickness  with  no  purpose  to  become  in  any 
wise  interested  in  the  subject  of  slavery,  but  rather 
studying  how  to  defend  myself  against  the  impressions 
which  I  supposed  it  would  make  upon  me,  I  found  my 
self,  for  three  months,  in  a  state  of  society,  in  different 
places,  which  made  me  say,  "  If  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin  is 
true,  there  are  other  things  just  as  true  which  ought  to 
modify  every  judgment  of  slavery  as  dictated  by  that 
book." 

The  reply  to  this  is,  "  You  saw  the  best  specimens  of 
slaveholding."  Truly,  I  did ;  and  gave  thanks  for  the 
power  of  the  gospel  in  its  direct  and  indirect  influences 
upon  the  master  and  slave.  I  took  courage  in  thinking 
what  that  gospel  would  continue  to  do  there,  if  "  the 
wrath  of  man  "  could  only  be  taught  that  it  "  worketh 
not  the  righteousness  of  God."  But  if  the  remark  im 
plies  that  I  did  not  see  and  feel  the  evils  of  slavery,  some 
of  the  preceding  pages,  I  trust,  are  a  sufficient  answer. 

Indignity  to  the  human  person,  meek  sufferings  under 
cruelty,  woman  in  the  power  of  a  brutal  nature,  child 
hood's  innocence  and  simplicity,  maternal  instincts,  the 
pathetic  themes  of  redemption,  with  interchanges  of 
drollery  and  brogue,  that  stroke  of  art  to  keep  the  sol- 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  169 

emn  and  pathetic  from  palling  upon  the  mind,  and  the 
didactic  from  seeming  prosy,  —  these,  combined  by  the 
hand  of  genius  into  a  novel  to  make  southern  slavery 
abhorred,  create  an  impression  against  the  south  itself 
which  many  can  not  see  and  feel  to  be  in  a  most  im 
portant  sense,  and  to  a  great  extent,  unjust,  till  they 
mingle  with  the  masters  and  servants.  Had  I  read  a 
novel  designed  to  eulogize  and  commend  the  system, 
written  with  the  power  of  this  book,  my  disappointment 
and  revulsion  in  another  direction  would  have  been  no 
less  real,  though  producing  a  different  effect  upon  my 
feelings. 

This  book  has  entered  like  an  alcoholic  distillation 
into  the  veins  and  blood  of  very  many  people  in  the  free 
States.  They  did  not,  nor  do  they  now,  make  any  dis 
tinction  between  Red  River  and  any  other  river,  south, 
or  south-west ;  nor  did  the  author  mean  that  they  should, 
for  the  Key  applies  the  whole  power  of  the  book  against 
slavery  in  all  the  south,  and  brings  facts  from  the 
Southern  States  generally  to  corroborate  the  fiction. 

At  the  south  its  effect  is  more  secret.  There  are  in 
juries  which  pride  forbids  men  to  retaliate  at  a  time  or 
in  a  way  which  will  show  that  they  are  capable  of  being 
offended  by  them.  In  the  secret  places  of  the  heart, 
the  smothered  fire  slowly  generates  heat,  which  makes 
combustion  fierce  when  the  flame  kindles.  This  book 
has  had  much  to  do  with  preparing  a  state  of  feeling  at 
the  south  by  which  Nebraska  measures  are  more  will 
ingly  sustained.  Yet  most  southerners  would  scorn  the 
thought  of  being  offended  or  influenced  from  such  a 
source.* 

*  It  will  illustrate  this  topic  to  speak  of  Rev.  Dr.  Perkins's  ser 
mon  preached  at  Oroomiah,  Persia,  entitled  "  Our  Country's  Sin." 


170  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

But  what  impression  must  the  book  have  made  on 
foreign  nations,  was  a  question  which  occurred  to  me, 
if  its  impression  on  an  American  be  thus  false  ?  What 
ideas  must  Frenchmen,  and  the  Swiss,  and  Germans, 
and  the  converts  from  heathenism  and  paganism,  have 
of  our  southern  men  universally,  if,  for  example,  Topsy 
gave  me  such  impressions  respecting  the  slave  children 
as  a  race  of  chimney  sweeps  ? 

This  question  had  ceased  to  interest  me,  for  I  had 
concluded  that  my  own  impressibility  was  in  some  way 
wrong,  and  that  no  one  else  would  fall  into  the  same 
error. 

On  looking  at  "  Sunny  Memories  of  Foreign  Lands," 

Private  letters  from  abroad  inform  us  that  it  was  written  under  the 
influence  of  the  Cabin.  A  word  of  personal  explanation  will  be 
excused.  Dr.  Perkins  quotes  from  a  sermon  of  mine  on  Mr.  Web 
ster  the  words,  "  Let  the  land  have  a  Sabbath  on  this  subject,  (sla 
very,)  and  let  this  Sabbath  be  the  long,  long  days  of  our  mourning," 
&c.,  and  he  devotes  some  space,  and  uses  strong  language,  in  la 
menting  and  reproving  the  idea  of  keeping  "  a  Sabbath  silence  " 
with  regard  to  slavery.  My  previous  sentence  would  seem  to  make 
this  meaning  of  my  language  improbable:  "  And  now,  as  we  sail 
away  from  the  sea-girt  tomb  of  our  pilot,  let  us  all  agree,  north, 
south,  east,  and  west,  to  throw  into  the  waves,  as  a  sacrifice,  our  un 
kind  feelings  and  bitter  words  on  the  subject  of  American  slavery. 
Let  the  land  have  a  Sabbath  with  regard  to  this  subject,"  —  mean 
ing,  and  no  doubt  I  should  have  added  these  words,  as  thus  dis 
cussed  ;  the  idea  of  silence  on  this  or  any  other  great  moral  question 
being  foreign  from  my  thoughts.  The  blame  of  this  sermon  must 
not  be  laid  at  the  door  of  that  far-off  mission  home,  with  its  priva 
tions  and  sorrows,  but  at  the  door  of  the  Cabin,  which  led  a  mis 
sionary  of  the  cross  to  employ  the  sacramental  occasion  to  pour  out 
his  excruciated  feelings  to  his  little  company  of  exiled  brethren  in 
reproof  of  pastors  and  religious  editors  here  at  home,  whose  chief, 
if  not  their  only  regret  at  the  sermon,  is  the  pain  which  it  must 
have  cost  him  to  write  and  preach  it.  We  are  not  offended.  We 
can  not,  indeed,  call  his  smiting  of  us  "  excellent  oil,"  yet,  like  such 
oil,  it  has  not  broken  our  heads. 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  171 

I  came  to  this  passage  in  the  author's  account  of  what 
she  saw  and  heard  in  Geneva,  Switzerland,  at  Castle 
Chillon  :  - 

"  After  we  left  the  dungeons,  we  went  up  into  the  judg 
ment  hall,  where  prisoners  were  tried,  and  then  into  the 
torture  chamber.  Here  are  pulleys  by  which  limbs  were 
broken  ;  the  beam,  all  scorched  with  the  irons  by  which 
feet  were  burned ;  the  oven  where  the  irons  were  heated ; 
and  there  was  the  stone  where  they  were  sometimes  laid  to 
be  strangled  after  the  torture.  On  that  stone,  our  guide 
told  us,  two  thousand  Jews,  men,  women,  and  children,  had 
been  put  to  death.  There  was  also,  high  up,  a  strong 
beam  across,  where  criminals  were  hung,  and  a  door,  now 
walled  up,  by  which  they  were  thrown  into  the  lake.  I 
shivered.  "Twas  cruel,'  she  [the  guide]  said;  ''twas 
almost  as  cruel  as  your  slavery  in  America.' " 

''Then  she   took  us   into   a   tower,"  &c. —  Vol.  ii.  pp. 


Here  I  found  that  my  false  impressions  with  regard 
to  slavery,  made  by  reading  the  Cabin  were  proba 
bly  not  peculiar,  and  that,  without  doubt,  unjust  impres 
sions  have  been  given  by  the  book  to  millions  of  foreign 
people.  The  torments  of  Chillon  Castle,  organized, 
administered  religiously,  scientifically,  and  with  that 
diabolical  cruelty  in  which  passion  has  given  place  to 
stolid  indifference,  these  are,  in  the  view  of  a  Swiss 
reader  of  the  Cabin,  "  almost  as  cruel  as  your  slavery 
in  America."  No  rebuke,  no  correction  is  given.  And 
all  this  time  that  the  book  is  making  these  impressions 
with  regard  to  the  slaves,  those  slaves,  notwithstanding 
the  inherent  evils  and  liabilities  of  their  state,  surpass 
any  three  millions  of  laboring  people,  in  any  foreign 
land,  in  comforts,  in  freedom  from  care,  in  provision  for 
the  future,  in  religious  privileges  and  enjoyment,  and 
probably  send  tenfold  more  from  their  number  to  be  in 
heaven  kings  and  priests  to  God. 


172  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

In  view  of  the  injury  inflicted  on  the  south  by  this 
novel  in  the  opinions  and  feelings  of  humane  people 
all  over  the  earth,  the  meekness  and  kindness  with  which 
it  has  been  privately  spoken  of  by  many  southerners 
awaken  sympathy  and  love  toward  them,  which,  though 
slow,  may  one  day  overtake  the  injustice,  and  make  com 
pensatory  reaction. 

Many  things  in  the  book  are  specifically  true  ;  it 
has  afforded  an  inestimable  amount  of  pleasure ;  the 
author  has  been  placed  by  it  in  situations  of  rich  enjoy 
ment,  for  which  every  generous  mind  is  glad :  and  now 
we  wish  that  the  same  genius  might  be  employed  in 
doing  justice  to  private  characters  at  the  south,  to  the 
benevolent  effects,  in  the  providence  of  God,  and  the 
possible  prospective  relations,  of  slavery  —  slavery  as  it 
really  is  —  slavery  as  it  may  be. 

But  the  genius  that  dictated  the  Cabin  would  fail 
here.  There  would  be  no  bad  passions  to  be  stimulated ; 
hatred  of  the  south  would  not  be  stirred;  the  self- 
righteousness  of  foreign  people  would  be  disturbed  by 
the  dark  shade  into  which  the  bright  side  of  slavery 
would  throw  their  laboring  poor.  No  political  party, 
no  rival  religious  publication  societies,  would  get  any 
help  from  it ;  certain  aspirants  for  the  presidency  would, 
by  its  influence,  see  their  prospects  as  in  the  light  of  a 
waning  moon.  Some  would  even  burn  the  book  on  their 
platform  with  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  In 
fidels  and  atheists,  who  every  year  in  May  drink  to 
gether  the  Circean  cup  of  radicalism,  would  trample  her 
book  under  their  feet,  and  turn  again  and  rend  her. 
How  she  would  use  her  well-known  facility  in  quoting 
Scripture  then :  "  My  soul  is  among  lions  ;  and  I  lie  even 
among  them  that  are  set  on  fire,  whose  teeth  are  spears 
and  arrows,  and  their  tongue  a  sharp  sword." 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVEHY.  173 

The  book  will  have  the  effect  to  make  slaveholders, 
in  many  instances,  feel  the  vast  responsibleness  which 
rests  upon  them  to  render  to  their  servants  that  which 
is  just  and  equal,  knowing  that  they  also  have  a  Master 
in  heaven,  and  that  the  world  looks  on  to  see  how  they 
use  a  trust  by  which  they  can  do  more  good  or  more 
harm  directly  to  a  human  being  than  in  any  other  rela 
tion  except  that  of  a  parent. 

Now  that  we  are  upon  this  subject,  something  may  be 
said,  perhaps  to  good  effect,  —  as  certainly  it  is  dictated  by 
kind  feelings  in  which  personal  attachments  also  mingle, 
—  with  regard  to  the  manner  in  which  the  south  and  our 
country  are  spoken  of,  through  the  influence  of  northern 
hostility  to  slavery,  not  only  by  Americans,  but  by  for 
eigners.  Southerners  have  need  of  patience  in  view  of 
the  manner  in  which  they  are  commonly  spoken  of  by 
many.  There  is  a  saucy  way  of  talking  about  slave 
holders,  a  slurring  manner  of  alluding  to  them  in  the 
style  of  byword,  which  ought  to  be  reproved.  The  book 
already  quoted,  Sunny  Memories,  &c.,*  affords  an  illus 
tration  of  this  in  the  Journal  of  the  author's  brother,  who 
may  as  well  be  quoted  for  a  casual  example  as  any  man, 
and  who  knows  how  to  answer  for  himself.  He  is  de 
scribing  his  altercation  with  a  mule  which  had  suddenly 
refused  to  move ;  he  stones  him  in  three  distinct  pitched 
onsets,  each  graphically  described,  and  we  hope  in  an 
exaggerated  manner ;  for,  had  some  southern  gentle 
men  been  passing  by,  they  would  have  said,  '  Were  you 
a  passionate  negro,  we  should  reprove  you  ;  but  being 
one  of  the  prominent  exposers  to  the  world  of  southern 
inhumanity,  it  must  of  course  be  all  right.'  The  mule,  in 

*  Vol.  ii.  pp.  237,  2-38. 


174  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

one  of  his  caprices,  does  some  obstinate  thing,  and  his 
driver  then  compares  him  to  "  a  proslavery  demagogue." 
His  mode  of  dealing  with  the  mule  was  so  much  like  the 
way  in  which,  doubtless,  he  has  heard  some  men  reason 
with  the  south,  that  while  employed  in  showering  granite 
upon  the  dumb  beast,  proslavery  men  were  readily  sug 
gested  to  his  thoughts.  The  trimmings  of  low  discourse 
with  some  whom  he  can  call  to  mind  are  flings  at  slave 
holders.  How  strange  it  would  seem  to  hear  certain 
men  speak  of  slaveholders  with  courtesy,  and  of  their 
alleged  sins  with  Christian  sorrow,  or  even  with  a  Chris 
tian  indignation. 

As  specimens  of  the  unjust  manner  in  which  our 
country  is  regarded  and  spoken  of  under  the  influence 
of  certain  representations  of  slavery,  the  following  in 
stances  are  in  place.  In  this  last-named  book  we  read 
that,  — 

"  Madam  Belloc  received,  a  day  or  two  since,  a  letter 
from  a  lady  in  the  old  town  of  Orleans,  which  gave  name 
to  Joan  of  Arc,  expressing  the  most  earnest  enthusiasm  in 
the  antislavery  cause.  Her  prayers,  she  says,  will  ascend 
night  and  day  for  those  brave  souls  in  America  who  are 
conflicting  with  this  mighty  injustice." —  Vol.  ii.  p.  416. 

The  question  arises,  "  Who  are  these  brave  souls  ?  " 
We  know,. probably,  to  whom  this  refers  ;  but  what  claim 
have  they  to  be  called  brave  ?  They  have  said  a  great 
many  brave  things,  but  have  they  done  any  ?  They  have 
added  the  great  State  of  Texas  to  slave  territory,  and 
this  is  characteristic  of  their  history ;  their  efforts  have 
all  redounded  to  prevent  emancipation,  and  strengthen 
and  extend  slavery.  They  are  like  an  army  with  no 
weapons  but  boomerangs,  which,  before  reaching  the 
object,  turn  in  the  air,  and  come  back  in  the  faces  of  those 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  175 

who  hurl  them.  For  ill-adapted,  unsuccessful  efforts,  no 
party  ever  made  such  an  impression  upon  bystanders. 
Deborah  would  have  felt  obliged  to  upbraid  them  as  she 
did  Reuben  in  her  war ;  Elijah,  seeing  them  leaping  on 
their  altar  at  their  anniversary,  crying  and  cutting  them 
selves,  would  have  bid  them  cry  louder ;  while  as  to 
some  of  their  number  who  kept  not  their  first  estate, 
the  apostle  Jude  could  most  appropriately  have  charac 
terized  and  denounced  them.  They  iiing  the  Bible 
across  the  platform  ;  impiously  boast  on  whom  they  would 
put  their  feet,  if  He  should  teach  otherwise  than  their 
resolutions  have  it ;  then  pause  for  a  poor  non-resistant 
but  extra-clamorous  fanatic  to  be  lifted  out  of  doors  by 
his  hands  and  heels,  when  they  proceed  to  assail  that 
church  of  which  they  have  been  forewarned  from  the 
beginning  that  they  should  "  never  prevail  against  it." 

The  rest  of  us  in  this  land,  in  the  view  of  estimable 
foreigners  whose  knowledge  with  regard  to  our  slaves 
began  and  ended  in  the  Cabin,  are  a  cruel,  prejudiced, 
besotted  people,  upholding  a  mighty  injustice,  while  a 
few  ''brave  souls,"  comprising  most  of  the  piety  and 
humanity  in  the  United  States,  are  contending  with  us 
at  fearful  odds  in  the  spirit  of  Christian  heroes. 

In  another  part  of  the  book  the  author  describes  a 
class  of  Americans  in  Paris  who  plunge  into  the  stream 
of  fashion  and  pleasure,  and  "  speak  with  heartless  levity 
of  the  revolutions  in  France  as  of  a  pantomime  got  up 
for  their  diversion:"  they  are  "young  America,  fresh 
from  the  theatres  and  gambling  saloons,  declaring,  be 
tween  the  whiffs  of  his  cigar,  that  the  French  are  not 
capable  of  free  institutions ;  that  the  government  of  Louis 
Napoleon  is  the  best  thing  France  could  have,  "  and 
dividing  the  time  between  defences  of  American  slavery 
12 


176  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

and  efforts  to  attach  themselves  to  the  skirts  of  French 
tyranny.'-'  Having  described  this  class  of  .men,  the 
writer  remarks,  — 

'•'  Thus  from  the  plague  spot  at  her  heart  has  America 
become  the  propagandist  of  despotism  in  Europe.7'  —  Vol.  ii. 
p.  418. 

These  few  young  gentlemen  of  the  town,  then,  are 
America's  representatives,  for  whose  judgments  and 
flashy  sayings  all  the  north,  and  west,  and  south  are  re 
sponsible,  and  by  whom  we  are  "•  propagating  despotism," 
because,  before  they  sailed  for  Paris,  the  country  had 
not  been  able  to  agree  as  to  the  proper  light  in  which  to 
regard  and  treat  the  subject  of  slavery.  For  very 
many  private  reasons,  it  is  painful  to  make  these  re 
flections  ;  but  it  is  time  to  see  if  we  can  not  arrest  the 
hurtful  way  in  which  some  speak  of  their  country  in 
connection  with  slavery,  or,  at  least,  to  let  the  more 
sensible  among  them  see  how  their  mode  of  speaking 
strikes  some  among  their  friends,  of  whose  candor  and 
kindness  they  have  had  sufficient  proof.  Here  is  an 
illustration  :  — 

a  In  the  course  of  the  afternoon  a  telegraph  came  from 
the  mayor  of  Liverpool,  to  inquire  if  our  party  would  ac 
cept  a  public  breakfast  at  the  town  hall,  before  sailing,  as 
a  demonstration  of  sympathy  with  the  cause  of  freedom. '' — 
Vol.  ii.  p.  431. 

The  words  italicized  (not  by  the  author)  are  like 
thousands  of  similar  instances  in  other  writers  and  speak 
ers  ;  but  the  sentence  which  follows  the  above  deepens 
the  impression  by  awaking  a  melancholy  feeling :  — 

"  Remembering  the  time  when  Clarkson  began  his  career 
amid  such  opposition  in  Liverpool,  we  could  not  but  regard 
such  an  evidence  of  its  present  public  sentiment  as  full  of 
encouragement.77 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  177 

We  see  no  proportion  nor  contrast  between  this  offer 
of  a  breakfast  to  our  American  antislavery  friends  and 
the  original  opposition  to  Clarkson. 

Here  is  something  entertaining  :  — 

"  A  French  gentleman  who  was  greatly  distressed  in 
view  of  the  sufferings  of  the  negro  race  in  America,  said, 

naively  enough,  to  Mrs.  C ,  that  he  had  heard  that  the 

negroes  had  great  capability  for  music,  dancing,  and  the 
line  arts,  and  inquired  whether  something  could  not  be 
done  to  move  sympathy  in  their  behalf,  by  training  them 
to  exhibit  characteristic  dances  and  pantomimes."  —  Vol. 
ii.  p.  416. 

Here  I  recalled  the  impressions  made  upon  me  by  the 
respectable  appearance  and  the  religious  demeanor  of 
the  slaves  in  southern  towns  and  cities,  and  thought  how 
little  those  slaves  need  this  good  monsieur  to  "move 
sympathy "  for  them,  and  what  an  injurious,  insulting 
proposition  this  seems,  to  one  recently  from  the  south, 
that  those  slaves  should  be  taken  about  to  jump  Jim 
Crow  for  the  benefit  of  abolitionism.  These  "friends 
of  the  slaves,"  to  whom  this  benighted  speech  was  made, 
had  no  correction  at  hand  for  it ;  but 

"  Mrs.  C quoted  to  him  the  action  of  one  of  the  great 

ecclesiastical  bodies  in  America,  in  the  same  breath  de 
clining  to  condemn  slavery,  but  denouncing  dancing  as  so 
wholly  of  the  world  lying  in  wickedness  as  to  require 
condign  ecclesiastical  censure.  The  poor  man  was  whol 
ly  lost  in  amazement."  --  Vol.  ii.  p.  416. 

There  is  a  strange  comparison  in  this  book  of  the 
French  and  American  republics,  in  view  of  the  aboli 
tion  of  slavery  in  French  colonies,  and  our  refusal  to 
emancipate  the  slaves,  who  are  a  part  of  society  here. 
Passing  this,  we  come  to  the  following,  which  is  a  great 
trial  of  American  equanimity  :  — 

"  A  deputation  from  Ireland  here  met  me,  presenting  a 


178  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

beautiful  bog-oak  casket,  lined  with  gold,  and  carved  with 
appropriate  national  symbols.  They  read  a  beautiful  ad 
dress,  and  touched  upon  the  importance  of  inspiring  with 
the  principles  of  emancipation  the  Irish  nation,  whose  in 
fluence  in  our  land  is  becoming  so  great.''  —  Vol.  ii.  p.  431. 

To  excite  the  poor  Irish  emigrants  with  zeal  against 
American  slavery  is  to  some  of  equal  importance  with 
lifting  them  from  their  proximity  to  the  brutes.  One 
great  cause  of  reluctance  to  emancipate,  is  and  will  con 
tinue  to  be,  the  fear  that  our  colored  people  would  be 
come  what  these  Irish  are  at  home. 

Once  more.     The  writer  is  at  the  Pantheon  in  Paris. 

"  Now,  this  Pantheon  seems  to  me  a  monument  of  the 
faults  and  the  weakness  of  this  very  agreeable  nation.  Its 
history  shows  their  enthusiasm,  their  hero  worship,  and  the 
want  of  stabler  religious  convictions.  Nowhere  has  there 
been  such  a  want  of  reverence  for  the  Creator,  unless  in 
the  American  Congress." —  Vol.  ii.  p.  399. 

There  have  been  infidels,  atheists,  and  all  descriptions 
of  men  in  the  American  Congress,  individuals  who  have 
at  times  spoken  in  a  way  to  pierce  the  heart  of  the 
country  to  the  core.  So  in  State  legislatures,  lyceums, 
conventions,  freedom  of  speech  has  been  indulged  to 
licentiousness.  But  the  American  Congress  maintain 
daily  prayers  and  public  worship  on  the  Sabbath,  and  a 
private  prayer  meeting  has  for  a  long  time  been  attend 
ed  by  a  goodly  number  of  that  body.  This  comparison 
in  the  Pantheon  of  our  national  legislature  with  French 
infidels,  in  the  matter  of  irreverence  toward  God,  shows 
a  state  of  feeling  toward  her  country  for  which  neither 
the  writer's  descent,  education,  or  natural  disposition  is 
answerable,  for  they  are  above  reproach  ;  but  she  is 
unduly  affected  by  her  party  position  with  regard  to 
slavery.  She  sees  a  negro  standing  in  the  sun,  as  she 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OP    SLAVERY.  179 

looks  from  foreign  shores  to  her  own  land,  and  this  is 
Uncle  Tom's  right  ascension  in  her  astronomy  of  our 
heavens.  In  her  reperusal  abroad  of  Walter  Scott,  did 
this  writer  forget  the  Lay  of  the  Last  Minstrel  and  never 
say  to  her  soul  — 

"  This  is  my  own,  my  native  land  "  ? 

Yes,  but  the  book,  the  romance,  had  been  written,  and  it 
created  an  atmosphere  which  is  a  sufficient  apology  for 
every  thing.  We  enter  an  arrest  of  judgment  for  her 
against  the  poet.  She  shall  not  "  forfeit  fair  renown." 
She  will  live,  we  trust,  to  change  the  tone  of  her  present 
feelings,  when  the  providence  of  God  unfolds  something 
more  of  his  mysterious,  but,  we  will  persist  in  our  hope, 
benevolent,  purposes  in  connection  with  American  sla 
very.  When  we  all  think  and  feel  alike  in  regard  to 
this  perplexing  and  now  inscrutable  subject,  we  shall 
rejoice  to  see  this  prophetess  in  Africa's  captivity  tak 
ing  her  timbrel  and  leading  us  forth  in  songs  and  dances 
at  Africa's  redemption. 


180  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

BRITISH  INTEREST  IN  AMERICAN  SLAVERY. 

THERE  is  no  land  in  which  the  common  people  are 
better  clothed,  sheltered,  and  fed  than  in  the  United 
States,  with  the  exception  of  one  class ;  and  that  is,  some 
who  come  to  us  from  Great  Britain,  the  poorer  class  of 
the  Irish  Catholics.  Human  nature  in  civilized  life  sel 
dom  goes  down  to  worse  degradation  than  in  them,  and 
the  land  that  suffers  such  specimens  of  moral  deformity 
to  go  from  her,  not  in  solitary  instances,  but  in  ship 
loads,  never  should  offer  compassionating  prayers  and 
exhortations,  much  less  reproaches  with  regard  to  any 
other  nation,  until  this  class  of  her  own  subjects  is 
improved.  The  most  appropriate  object  in  this  country 
for  British  commiseration  and  tears,  and  for  addresses 
from  ladies  to  their  sisters  here,  is  the  condition  of  their 
own  people,  exiles  from  Great  Britain,  some  of  whom 
look  as  the  old  Egyptians  would  on  whom  a  few  of  the  ten 
plagues  should  have  made  their  mark.  To  go  from  their 
cellars  and  garrets  in  Boston  and  New  York,  and  look 
upon  the  southern  slaves  enjoying  not  only  the  necessa 
ries,  but  in  towns  and  cities  the  luxuries,  of  life,  in 
dulged  with  all  the  comforts,  and  even,  in  many  cases, 
with  the  superfluities,  of  dress,  the  most  cheerful  class 
of  people  that  meets  the  eye  of  a  stranger  in  this  or  any 
land,  and  every  where  enjoying  the  influences  of  pure 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  181 

religion,  makes  one  consider  what  misplaced  pity  there 
is  in  British  lamentations  over  American  slavery. 

The  abolition  of  British  slavery  gives  no  right  to 
speak  to  us  even  in  the  language  of  instruction.  To 
abolish  slavery  in  a  foreign  colony  is  like  cutting  off  a 
wen  from  the  body  ;  our  slavery  is  in  our  constitution, 
our  blood.  Great  Britain  has  never  exercised  any  thing 
like  the  curative,  painful,  critical  treatment  which  eman 
cipation  here  would  be  to  us.  There  is  no  parallel  in 
raising  twenty  millions  of  pounds,  and  setting  free  the 
blacks  of  the  British  West  Indies,  to  abolishing  Ameri 
can  slavery  from  the  very  warp  and  woof  of  human  life 
in  one  third  of  this  nation. 

This  venerable  mother  England,  her  hoary  age  reck 
oned  by  centuries,  has  only  a  few  years  since  begun  to  re 
form  certain  dreadful  oppressions  and  wrongs  among  her 
population  at  home,  yet  has  seemed  unwilling  to  allow 
her  daughter,  just  come  of  age,  a  little  time  to  dispose 
of  one  evil  imposed  upon  us  by  her  own  hands,  and 
which  the  country,  as  such,  has  no  power  to  remove. 

In  Charlotte  Elizabeth's  Wrongs  of  Women,  and 
Hewitt's  Rural  Life  in  England,  there  are  materials 
for  a  more  powerful  appeal  to  the  feelings  of  humanity 
than  can  be  found  in  American  slavery,  provided  they 
could  be  wrought  by  true  genius  into  the  form  of  a  tale. 
Indeed,  there  are  appeals  founded  on  facts,  in  the  first- 
named  book,  in  behalf  of  the  milliners,  seamstresses, 
pin  makers,  lace  makers,  and  colliers  of  England,  which 
leave  an  American  reader  at  a  loss  to  account  for  Brit 
ish  interest,  in  years  past,  with  regard  to  our  slaves, 
while  such  disclosures  and  remonstrances  were  published 
in  Great  Britain.  Well  did  Charlotte  Elizabeth  say, 
"Infanticide  in  India  or  China  is  a  very  awful  thing; 


182  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

slavery  on  the  African  coast  makes  our  freeborn  blood 
tingle  in  our  veins  ;  and  against  both,  man's  lip  can  utter 
most  persuasive  sounds  of  eloquent  appeal,  woman's 
eye  can  shed  a  torrent  of  soft  tears  over  the  tale,  but  — 
infanticide  in  Nottingham  or  Birmingham,  slavery  in 
Manchester  or  Leeds  —  our  excited  feelings  are  calmed 
down  ;  the  bright  flame  of  our  zeal  expires."  * 

A  good  way  to  correct  a  morbid  state  of  feeling  pro 
duced  by  reading  a  novel  founded  on  American  slavery 
is  to  read,  for  example,  a  piece  by  the  above-named 
writer,  which  parallels  any  thing  which  slavery  has  ever 
furnished.  Let  it  be  remembered  that  the  evils  of  sla 
very  are  mostly  its  abuses,  but  the  evils  depicted  in 
such  descriptions  as  the  one  that  follows  are  system 
atized  wrongs,  which  within  a  few  years  the  English 
have  begun  to  remove,  but  find  that  the  abolition  of  evils 
interwoven  with  society  at  home  is  not  a  simple  and 
easy  work. 

Nell  Carter  was  employed  about  an  English  coal 
mine,  and  Alice  Smith,  a  villager's  wife,  had  come 
with  her  husband  to  the  manufacturing  district  to 
earn  money.  Nell  unfolds  to  Alice  the  mysteries  of 
the  pits :  f  — 

" l  You  see  that  girl  with  red  hair,  the  most  foul-mouthed 
young  slut  that  ever  used  bad  words ;  well,  she  is  one  of 
nine  children,  all  living  in  this  place ;  and  I  think  not  one 
of  them  knows  who  made  'em,  they're  so  ignorant.  Their 
mother  was  a  tidy  girl,  married,  very  young,  to  a  miner; 
and  he  had  hardly  got  her  into  his  power  when  he  took  her 
down  into  the  coal  pits  "  to  hurry "  for  him.  You  don't 
know  what  that  is  ?  'Tis  the  drawing  of  a  wooden  car 
riage,  heavy  loaded  with  coals,  along  the  seams  of  a  mine, 

*  AVrongs  of  Women,  p.  278,  New  York  ed. 
f  Ibid.  pp.  99-101. 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  183 

where  a  body  couldn't  stand  half  upright,  where  all  is 
dark  as  midnight,  except  the  candlestick  in  the  miner's 
cap ;  and  where  she  had  to  slave  like  a  brute  beast,  in 
nothing  but  her  body  linen,  with  a  coarse  pair  of  trousers, 
a  thick  leathern  belt  round  her  waist,  a  heavy  iron  chain 
fastened  to  it,  passing  between  her  legs  and  hooked  on  to  the 
carriage,  and  she  dragging  it,  almost  on  all  fours,  through 
these  passages  ;  ten,  twelve,  fourteen,  or  sixteen  hours  —  I 
was  going  to  say  every  day  —  but  there  was  no  day  for 
her.  It  was  dark  night  always  in  that  frightful  mine,  and 
dark  nights  above  ground  before  she  could  leave  it. 

"  •  She  toiled  so  for  a  few  months,  with  her  own  husband  to 
drive  heron  in  the  work  :  but  lie  found  her  earnings  would 
keep  him  idle  half  the  week,  and  so  he  left  her  there  —  poor 
young  thing  —  among  such  a  set  that  the  worst  you  ever  saw 
here  are  angels  to  them.  She  worked  till  the  morning  of 
the  day  her  first  child  was  born,  —  a  lovely  boy.  —  and  had 
to  go  down  again  in  less  than  a  fortnight,  to  the  same  life. 
Till  then,  she  had  kept  herself  different  from  the  rest ;  but 
it  seemed  the  parting  her  from  the  baby  made  her  desper 
ate.  I  was  told  her  wild  lauuli  would  ring  again  through 
the  long,  black  galleries,  and  her  jests  keep  them  all  merry  ; 
but  her  heart  was  breaking  as  fast  as  it  could  then,  and  it 
had  broke.  But  we  are  blind  creatures,  and  can't  tell  what 
is  best.  It  was  a  great  lord  owned  all  these  mines ;  his 
agent  gave  good  wages,  and  got  the  worth  of  them  out  of 
the  miners  too.  Penrose,  seeing  the  value  his  wife's  toil 
was  of,  took  some  pains  to  keep  her  from  sinking,  and  she 
came  round  a  little,  especially  when  he  gave  her  a  holiday 
now  and  then  to  nurse  her  boy.  She  had  that  girl,  yonder, 
for  her  next;  and  by  the  time  the  third  was  born.  I  think 
she'd  as  little  of  human  nature  left  about  her  as  could  well 
be  found  even  in  a  coal  pit.  My  heart  has  ached  to  see 
her,  all  black  and  filthy,  with  a  pipe  in  her  mouth,  swag 
gering  or  standing  about,  swearing  and  talking  as  nobody 
in  a  Christian  land  should  be  let  talk.  And  it  was  with  her 
own  consent  that  at  four  years  old  her  little  boy  was  carried 
down  to  his  work  in  the  pit.' 

"  She  pauses,  for  all  the  color  has  left  Alice  Smith's 
face  ;  then  hastily  resumes. 

"  '  Don't  suppose  they  set  the  baby  "  to  hurry  : ;'  no.  he 
was  only  a  trapper,  sitting  behind  a  door  to  pull  it  open 
with  a  string,  when  any  of  the  cobs  came  up.  But  it  w;is 
all  in  darkness,  cold,  and  silence  ;  and  the  child  dared  not 
sleep  through  the  long,  lonir,  black  hours  :  and  he  said. 
poor  little  thing  !  —  but  no  matter  for  that ;  we  will  talk  of 


184:  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEYT    OF    SLAVERY. 

the  mother.  Ah.  you  begin  to  feel  in  your  heart,  now,  that 
your  lot  isn't  so  bad  as  it  might  be  !  I  see  that.  The  poor 
woman  bore  ten  or  eleven  children  ;  nine  lived,  which  was 
a  wonder  in  all  the  place.  She  died  at  last  by  an  awful 
death.  One  of  her  own  children  was  winding  at  the  pit's 
mouth,  and,  by  carelessness  natural  in  a  child,  overwound 
the  rope ;  the  bucket  was  drawn  over  the  roller,  and  down, 
down  she  went,  how  many  hundred  feet  I  can  not  say  ;  but 
there  was  no  life  in  the  mangled  body.' ;' 

While  such  fearful  things  as  these  abounded  in  the 
English  collieries,  and  while  every  dressmaking  estab 
lishment,  as  this  writer  says,  in  the  language  of  an 
agent,  "  killed  a  gal  a  year,"  and  Thomas  Hood  was 
writing  the  Song  of  the  Shirt,  addresses,  remonstrances, 
were  sent  over  by  public  bodies  to  this  country,  plead 
ing  for  the  slave.  The  ladies,  who  were  responsible 
for  the  woes  of  the  laboring  classes  of  women,  joined 
in  appeals  to  their  sisters  here  with  regard  to  the  con 
dition  of  the  slaves ;  but,  most  wonderful  of  all,  remon 
strances  came  from  ecclesiastical  bodies  in  Ireland,  which 
was  then  depositing  upon  our  shores  a  population  which 
had  few  rivals  in  misery.  Well  may  we  use  Whitefield's 
well-known  exclamation,  "Lord,  what  is  man"!  The 
truth  is,  this  subject  of  slavery  has  been  the  occasion  of 
more  fanaticism  than  almost  any  thing  since  the  crusades. 

We  will  not  recriminate  ;  but  a  sense  of  injustice  to  us 
compels  us  to  allude  to  one  thing  for  which  England  has 
not  exercised  sufficient  repentance,  nor  made  sufficient 
atonement,  to  warrant  many  tears  on  our  account.  The 
wrongs  and  woes  inflicted  on  young  children  in  Great 
Britain  have  nothing  to  correspond  with  them  in  any 
Christian  country.  Allusion  is  made  to  this  topic  in  the 
extract  already  given.  There  is  a  piece  of  poetry  by 
Miss  Barrett  (Mrs.  Browning)  which  is  unsurpassed  in 
the  English  language  for  its  power  to  move  the  feelings, 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  185 

called  the  "  Cry  of  the  Children."  Sent  down  at  four 
years  of  age,  many  of  them,  to  work  under  ground,  they 
find  an  eloquent  pleader  in  this  exquisite  poetess,  as 
follows,(the  dashes  indicating  imperfect  quotations  :  — ) 

"  Do  ye  hear  the  children  weeping,  0  my  brothers  ?  — 
Do  you  question  the  young  children  in  their  sorrow? 
Your  old  earth,  they  say,  is  very  dreary. — 
Our  young  feet,  they  say,  are  very  weak.  — 
The  graves  are  for  the  old.  — 
Little  Alice  died  last  year  ;  — 
We  looked  into  the  pit  prepared  to  take  her  ; 
There  was  no  room  for  any  work  in  the  close  clay  ; 
From  the  sleep  wherein  she  lieth  none  will  wake  her, 
Crying,  Get  up,  little  Alice  ;  it  is  day. 
If  you  listen  by  that  grave  in  sun  and  shower, 
With  your  ear  down,  little  Alice  never  cries.  — 
It  is  good  when  it  happens,  say  the  children, 
That  we  die  before  our  time.  — 
Go  out,  children,  from  the  mine. — 
Pluck  the  meadow  cowslips.  — 
If  we  cared  for  any  meadows,  it  were  merely 
To  lie  down  in  them  and  sleep.  — 
The  reddest  flowers  would  look  as  pale  as  snow." 

"  All  day  long  the  wheels  are  droning,  turning  ; 

Their  wind  comes  in  our  faces  ; 
Till  our  hearts  turn,  and  our  heads  with  pulses  burning, 

And  the  walls  turn  in  their  places. 
Turns  the  sky  in  the  high  window,  blank  and  reeling, 

Turns  the  long  light  that  droopeth  down  the  wall, 
Turn  the  black  flies,  that  crawl  along  the  ceiling  ; 

Are  all  turning  all  the  day,  and  we  with  all !  — 
And  sometimes  we  could  pray,  — 
O  ye  wheels,  stop,  be  silent  for  a  day."  - 

"  And  well  may  the  children  weep  before  ye  ; 
They  are  weary  ere  they  run. 

They  know  the  grief  of  men,  but  not  the  wisdom  ; 
Are  slaves  without  liberty  in  Christdom  ; 
Are  martyrs  by  the  pang  without  the  palm." 

Then  comes  this  awful  close :  — 


186  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

"  How  long,  they  say,  how  long,  O  cruel  nation, 

Will  you  stand,  to  move  the  world,  on  a  child's  heart, 
Trample  down  with  mailed  heel  its  palpitation, 

And  tread  onward  to  your  throne  amid  the  mart  ? 
Our  blood  splashes  upward,  O  our  tyrants, 

And  your  purple  shows  your  path, 
But  the  child's  sob  curseth  deeper  in  the  silence 

Than  the  strong  man  in  his  wrath." 

A  nation  who  had  had  such  a  piece  as  this  written  about 
them,  verified  by  commissioners  of  Parliament,  ought 
to  have  been  sure  that  no  trace  of  this  enormous  wrong 
remained  when  they  rejected  American  preachers  for 
not  being  up  to  their  mark  on  the  subject  of  abolishing 
slavery,  and  before  they  remonstrated  with  slaveholders. 
Let  any  one  read  Miss  Barrett's  piece  at  the  south,  in 
sight  of  some  little  negroes,  on  any  plantation,  or  in  any 
town  or  city.  Their  condition  is  paradise  compared 
with  that  of  those  whose  "  cry  "  is  echoed  by  this  lady. 
What  if  the  colored  children  in  the  slave  States  should 
have  had  this  piece  read  and  explained  to  them,  and  an 
address  should  have  been  written  for  them  to  Mrs. 
Browning,  thanking  her  for  her  interest  in  the  suf 
fering  children  of  her  own  realm,  and  inviting  her  to 
make  the  tour  of  the  Southern  States.  We  could  have 
made  speeches  and  presented  addresses  about  "  the  cry 
of  the  children "  in  England  which  would  have  been 
extremely  distasteful  across  the  water,  especially  if  Eng 
land  itself  were  at  that  time  exasperated  by  a  sectional 
controversy  on  the  subject  almost  to  the  point  of  a  civil 
war. 

It  is  an  occasion  for  wonder  to  think  of  the  common 
antislavery  feelings  of  our  own  people  at  the  north,  com 
pared  with  the  small  amount  of  zeal  and  effort  employed 
in  behalf  of  the  British  outcasts  in  our  cities.  Were  such 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  187 

meetings  and  such  speeches  as  are  employed  to  rouse  up 
the  north  against  slavery  used  to  direct  public  attention 
to  these  unhappy  creatures,  no  infidel  orator  at  those 
meetings  would  then  be  subjected  to  the  divine  reproach 
of  something  worse,  if  possible,  than  his  infidelity,  name 
ly,  of  not  providing  for  his  own.  When  shall  we  send 
food,  and  raiment,  and  shelter,  and  means  of  cleanliness, 
not  to  say  Christian  teachers,  to  the  poor  of  our  own 
cities,  to  the  degree  in  which  the  slaves  at  the  south  en 
joy  these  blessings  ?  Let  us  use  in  behalf  of  our  own 
poor  those  stirring  appeals  drawn  from  ''one  blood,"  "all 
men  free  and  equal,"  "am  I  not  a  man  and  brother?" 
and  add,  if  we  please,  "Bunker  Hill,"  "Bill  of  Rights," 
"American  Independence."  There  are  men,  women, 
and  children,  who  are  our  neighbors,  that  need  this  elo 
quence  in  their  behalf  more  than  the  slaves.  They  can 
not  recompense  us,  it  is  true,  with  notoriety ;  nor  with 
political  advantage,  except  that  we  shall  do  most,  in  car 
ing  for  them,  to  save  the  country.  You  may  establish 
schools  among  these  with  no  danger  of  imprisonment; 
visit  them  in  their  miserable  homes,  and  talk  kindly  to 
them,  without  being  suspected  of  incendiary  motives  ; 
protect  fugitives  from  God  and  virtue  without  breaking 
any  laws.  Xo  chains  about  the  Court  House  prevent  you 
from  interposing  as  bail  for  tempted  souls  in  their  first 
step  into  crime  ;  no  Mason's  and  Dixon's  line  makes  a 
boundary  to  your  lawful  zeal.  These  poor  ye  have  al 
ways  with  you,  and  when  ye  will  ye  may  do  them  good. 
If  the  saying  be  true,  that  a  man  who  goes  to  law 
should  have  clean  hands,  he  who  reproves  others  for  neg 
lect  and  sin  should  be  sure  that  the  God  before  whom  he 
arraigns  them  can  not  wither  him  by  that  rebuke,  "  Thou 
hypocrite  !  first  cast  out  the  beam  out  of  thine  own  eye !  " 


188  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIE  AY    OF    SLAVERY. 

In  the  following  extract  from  a  late  number  of  the 
New  Orleans  Creole,  we  see  how  the  gospel  is  triumph 
ing  over  well-known  obstacles  in  that  city :  — 

RELIGIOUS    INSTRUCTION    OF    THE    BLACKS    IN    NEW 

ORLEANS. —  No  one  who  has  spent  a  month  in  New  Or 
leans  will  deny  the  fact  that  the  colored  population  of  our 
city  is  a  happy,  well-dressed,  and  improving  race.  They 
are  far  above  the  poorer  class,  or  day  laborers,  of  northern 
towns,  in  all  that  tends  to  comfort  and  freedom  from  care. 

It  affords  matter  of  astonishment,  and  an  interesting 
subject  for  reflection,  to  those  from  the  Northern  States,  to 
stand  on  the  corners  of  any  of  our  thoroughfares,  of  a  Sab 
bath  morning  or  an  afternoon,  and  witness  the  constant 
succession  of  group  after  group  of  colored  people,  arrayed 
in  plain,  neat,  and  elegant  attire,  consisting  often  of  whole 
families,  from  aged  grandsire  to  toddling  grandchild ;  their 
faces  expressive  of  content  and  abundance  ;  their  conver 
sation  indicative  of  genuine  happiness,  as  they  wend  their 
way  to  the  various  places  of  worship  provided  in  the  city 
for  their  accommodation.  There  is  no  countenance  sharp 
ened  by  want;  there  is  no  miserable  caricature  of. human 
ity,  redolent  with  filth,  with  rags  fluttering  in  the  breeze  ; 
there  is  no  infantile  visage  crushed  into  the  mould  of  age ; 
but  ever  varied  as  our  colored  population  is  in  features  and 
dress,  there  is  the  undoubted  proof  of  enjoyment,  of  plenty, 
of  kind  treatment,  and  of  contentedness. 

In  the  family  circle,  they  receive  religious  instruction,  as 
well  as  from  the  pulpits  of  their  churches.  The  Sabbath 
school  and  the  lecture  room  are  open  to  their  entrance. 

We  wandered,  a  week  or  two  since,  to  the  neighborhood 
of  one  of  their  principal  places  for  worship.  Before  us 
the  street  was  dotted  with  gay  troops  of  black,  brown,  and 
tawny,  on  their  way  to  the  church.  Long  before  we  reached 
the  edifice,  the  notes  of  sacred  music  broke  upon  the 
ear,  chanted  by  voices  of  black  worshipers.  As  we  came 
to  the  door  of  the  sacred  edifice,  a  novel  scene  was  pre 
sented.  The  pulpit  was  occupied  by  a  preacher  of  ebony 
blackness ;  around  the  altar  sat  several  white  men,  under 
whose  especial  care  were  the  exercises  of  the  occasion, 
who  did  not,  however,  interfere  with  the  management  of 
the  religious  services.  There  was  a  gravity  in  the  gathered 
audience,  filling  the  entire  area  of  the  building,  which 
whiter  congregations,  in  some  places,  might  happily  imitate. 

It  was  soul-inspiring  to  witness  the  enthusiasm  with 
which  the  hymn  was  sung,  the  whole  audience  rising  in 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  189 

token  of  respect:  and  untutored  as  were  the  voices  of  the 
many,  a  note  of  liquid  sweetness  was  heard,  which  would 
have  brought  down  the  theatrical  critics  with  thunders  of 
applause.  When  the  prayer  was  offered,  they  all  bowed, 
as  though  each  one  was  personally  interested  in  the  peti 
tion,  fervently  but  rudely  uttered.  How  simply  the  wants 
of  that  crowd  were  presented  !  How  trustingly  the  peti 
tion  was  made  ! 

The  topic  of  the  preacher  was  the  glory  of  heaven. 
The  speaker  knew  his  hearers.  He  adapted  his  language 
to  their  capacity.  We  can  not  avoid  giving  an  instance  of 
illustration,  apt  and  forcible  :  — 

''  My  bredren/'  said  he,  as  he  pointed  to  a  stagnant  ca 
nal  and  filthy  thoroughfare,  •'•  de  streets  here  am  full  ob 
mud;  de  water  still  until  it  is  full  of  corruption  ;  de  hot  sun 
makes  it  steam  up  with  bad  smells,  and  often  fill  de  whole 
city  wid  death.  But,  bressed  be  God,  my  bredren.  dare  is 
no  muddy  streets  in  heben  :  dare  are  golden  pavements 
and  pure  waters,  and  de  air  is  full  ob  de  smell  ob  de  violet 
and  de  rose,  and  de  face  ob  God  ever  makes  de  place  glo 
rious  wid  hebenly  light." 

The  muttered  exclamation  of  assent  showed  he  had 
awakened  the  feelings  of  his  hearers  ;  and  the  swinging 
to  and  fro  of  the  crowds  proved  the  enthusiasm  with  which 
they  were  moved. 

This  scene  is  repeated  on  a  smaller  or  larger  scale  all 
over  the  south.  The  Methodist  and  Baptist  black  churches 
in  this  city  have  a  very  large  number  of  communicants. 
It  is  generally  acknowledged,  by  all  classes  of  the  com 
munity,  that  religious  advantages  for  the  slave  are  imper 
atively  demanded  from  the  master. 

Our  plantation  slaves  on  the  coast  have  their  regular 
ministers  in  religious  things;  generally  a  white  clergyman 
of  standing,  who  preaches  at  three  or  four  places  of  a  Sab 
bath  day. 

We  are  familiar  with  the  means  of  religious  instruction 
for  the  poor  in  northern  cities,  and  we  can  safely  aver  that 
their  advantages  fall  far  short  of  those  granted  the  blacks 
of  the  south. 


190  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 


CHAPTER    XV. 

THE  BIBLE  AND   SLAVERY. 

WHEN  the  Hebrew  nation  was  organized  oy  the  Most 
High,  he  found  among  the  people  masters  and  slaves. 
He  could  have  purged  out  slaveholding  by  positive 
enactments ;  he  could  have  rid  the  people  of  all  the 
slave  owners  by  making  their  dead  bodies  fall  in  the  wil 
derness.  Instead  of  this,  he  made  slavery  the  subject 
of  legislation,  prescribed  its  duties,  and  protected  the 
parties  concerned  in  the  performance  of  them. 

But  who  can  withhold  his  tribute  of  love  and  adora 
tion  at  the  divine  goodness  and  wisdom  which  mark  the 
whole  Mosaic  code,  as  illustrated  in  that  honorable  re 
gard  for  man,  as  man,  which  strove  continually  to  lift  and 
break  the  yoke  of  bondage  to  his  fellow-man  from  his 
neck  ?  They  who  assert  that  the  Bible  sanctions  the 
relation  of  master  and  slave  are  bound  to  show  in  what 
spirit  and  with  what  intentions  the  Most  High  per 
mitted  the  relation  to  remain.  Otherwise  they  commit 
the  fearful  mistake  of  making  infinite  goodness  and  wis- 
I doni  countenance  oppression. 

There  are  some  extremely  interesting  and  even  beau 
tiful  illustrations  in  the  Bible  of  the  destiny  of  involun 
tary  servitude  to  be  from  the  first  a  waning,  transient 
relation.  Every  thing  pointed  to  freedom  as  the  desira 
ble  condition ;  easements,  deliverances  from  it,  were 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  19 1 

skillfully  prepared  in  the  Hebrew  constitution.  Maim 
ing,  concubinage,  the  children  of  concubines,  years  of 
release,  jubilees,  all  the  various  conditions  and  seasons 
connected  with  the  termination  of  bondage,  show  that 
slavery  was  a  condition  out  of  which  it  is  the  destiny  of 
human  nature  to  rise ;  and  falling  into  it  is  a  calamity, 
a  retrogression. 

The  preferableness  of  freedom  to  slavery,  in  the  divine 
mind  and  plan,  is  set  forth  in  the  passage  where  Jere 
miah,  in  the  name  of  God,  directed,  in  the  last  days  of 
the  nation,  that  every  Hebrew  servant  should  be  manu 
mitted  according  to  law;  for  afflictions  were  making  them 
break  off  their  sins.  This  divine  injunction  was  obeyed ; 
but  afterwards  they  reconsidered  their  repentance,  and 
the  servants  were  reduced  again  to  bondage.  God  ap 
peals  to  them  against  this  outrage,  by  reminding  them 
of  Egypt,  and  of  his  appointment  in  their  early  history 
of  years  of  release,  and  charges  them  with  "  polluting  " 
his  name  by  the  reestablishment  of  slavery  over  those 
who  had  a  right  to  liberty,  threatening  them  for  this  in 
these  words  of  awful  irony :  "  Behold,  I  proclaim  a  lib 
erty  for  you,  saith  the  Lord,  to  the  sword,  to  the  pesti 
lence,  and  to  the  famine ;  and  I  will  make  you  to  be 
removed  into  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  earth."  * 

The  New  Testament  speaks  out,  not  in  ordinances,, 
but  in  words,  and  teaches  more  distinctly  that  freedom 
is  to  be  preferred  when  it  may  be  had.  "  If  thou  mayest 
be  free,  use  it  rather." 

It  is  as  though  bondage  were  incident  to  darkness  and 
twilight,  and  removable  only  by  the  clear  sunlight  of  a 
state  of  society  which  would  be  incompatible  with  every 

*  Jer.  xxxiv.  8-22. 

13 


192  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

form  of  oppression.  So  we  find  that  wherever  the  influ 
ence  of  religion  reaches  a  high  point,  slavery  wholly 
changes  its  character,  though  it  may  continue  in  form  and 
name.  It  may  be  benevolent  to  individuals,  to  a  class, 
that  the  form  of  slavery  remain  ;  but  in  such  a  case  the 
yoke  is  broken,  and  to  fight  against  the  form  and  the 
name,  when  the  thing  itself  had  ceased  to  be  an  evil, 
would  be  to  fight  a  shadow. 

The  wise  manner  in  which  the  Apostles  deal  with 
slavery  is  one  incidental  proof  of  their  inspiration. 
The  hand  of  the  same  God  who  framed  the  Mosaic  code 
is  evidently  still  at  work  in  directing  his  servants,  the 
Apostles,  how  to  deal  with  slavery.  Men  with  their 
benevolence  and  zeal,  if  left  to  themselves,  would,  some 
of  them,  have  gone  to  extremes  on  that  subject ;  for 
•"  ultraism,"  as  we  call  it,  is  the  natural  tendency  of  good 
men,  not  fully  instructed,  in  their  early  zeal.  The  dis 
position  to  put  away  a  heathen  husband  or  wife,  abstain 
ing  from  marriage  and  from  meats,  Timothy's  omission 
to  take  wine  in  sickness,  show  this,  and  make  it  re 
markable  that  slavery  was  dealt  with  as  it  was  by  the 
Apostles.  Only  they  who  had  the  Spirit  of  God  in  them 
could  have  spoken  so  wisely,  so  temperately,  with  regard 
to  an  evil  which  met  them  every  where  with  its  bad 
influences  and  grievous  sorrows.  Some  in  their  day,  who 
professed  to  be  Christian  teachers,  were  "  ultraists,"  and 
could  not  restrain  themselves,  but  evidently  encouraged 
servants  not  to  count  their  masters  worthy  of  all  honor, 
and  to  use  the  equality  of  divine  grace  to  them  and  their 
believing  masters,  as  a  claim  to  equality  in  other  things, 
thus  despising  their  believing  masters  because  they  were 
brethren.  Never  is  the  Apostle  Paul  more  severe  in  the 
use  of  epithets  than  in  denouncing  such  teachers  and 


A    SOUTH-SIDE   VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  193 

their  doctrines.  Far  as  possible  from  countenancing 
servitude  as  a  condition  which  man  has  a  right  to  per 
petuate,  or  to  which  any  class  of  men  is  doomed,  but 
declaring  plainly  that  freedom  is  to  be  preferred  by  the 
slave,  he  and  his  fellow-laborers  employed  themselves 
in  disseminating  those  principles  and  that  spirit  which 
would  make  slavery  as  an  oppression  impossible,  chan 
ging  its  whole  nature  by  abolishing  all  the  motives  which 
create  such  an  institution.  But  as  it  is  not  sunrise  in 
every  place  at  the  same  moment,  and  in  places  where 
the  sun  has  risen  there  are  ravines  and  vales,  where  the 
light  is  slow  to  enter,  so  we  can  not  expect  that  the  evils 
of  slavery  will  disappear  at  once,  even  where  the  religion 
of  Christ  generally  prevails ;  but  in  proportion  as  it  ex 
tends  its  influence,  slavery  is  sure  to  cease  in  all  its 
objectionable  features.  An  interesting  illustration  of 
this,  on  a  large  scale,  is  afforded  by  the  state  of  slavery 
in  the  United  States  and  Cuba.  Spanish  slavery  has  a 
very  mild  code,  but  is  severe  and  oppressive.  American 
slavery  has  perhaps  as  rigid  a  code  as  any ;  but  practi 
cally,  it  is  the  mildest  form  of  involuntary  servitude, 
and  few  would  justify  themselves  in  doing  no  better  for 
their  slaves  than  the  law  requires.  Pure  religion  must 
have  the  credit  of  this  difference,  teaching  us  that  to 
remove  slavery  we  must  promote  spiritual  religion,  and 
to  this  end  use  every  means  to  propagate  Christian 
knowledge  and  Christian  charity. 

We  are  not  as  wise  as  Paul  if  we  withdraw  our 
Christian  teachers  and  books,  imbued  with  the  great 
principles  of  pure  religion,  from  communities  where  we 
are  not  allowed  to  do  all  the  good  which  we  may  de 
sire,  or  to  present  a  duty  in  such  specific  forms  as  our 
preferences  dictate.  Our  principle  ought  not  to  be,  to 


194  A    SOUTH-SIDE   VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

abandon  men  as  soon  as  we  are  resisted,  or  can  not  say 
and  do  all  that  we  would  ;  but  we  should  study  ways  to 
remain,  trusting  to  the  power  of  light  and  love  to  open 
doors  for  us.  The  dust  which  we  too  readily  shake  off 
from  our  feet  against  men  will  be  a  witness  against  us, 
rather  than  against  them.  It  must  gratify  the  arch 
enemy  to  see  us  withdraw  our  forces  in  solemn  indigna 
tion  at  his  show  of  resistance.  The  children  of  this 
world  do  not  suffer  themselves  to  be  so  easily  foiled,  nor 
do  they  force  unacceptable  offerings  upon  Japan,  but 
ply  her  with  things  to  tempt  her  desire  for  further  com 
modities,  representing  their  usefulness  in  ways  which 
do  not  excite  national  jealousy  and  pride. 
"  It  is  refreshing  to  escape  from  those  books  of  over 
heated  zeal  which  attack  slavery,  and  read  the  passages 
in  the  New  Testament  relating  to  the  subject ;  breath 
ing  a  spirit  fatal  to  oppression,  yet  counseling  no  meas 
ures  against  it  because  of  its  seeming  trust  in  its  own 
omnipotent  influence  wherever  it  shall  build  its  throne. 
Paul's  refusal  to  interfere  between  Onesimus  and  his 
master  is  one  of  those  gentle  lessons  of  wisdom  on  this 
subject  Avhich  are  so  characteristic  of  his  spirit  in  deal 
ing  with  this  public  evil.  That  small  epistle  to  Phile 
mon,  that  one  chapter,  that  little  piece  of  parchment, 
that  mere  note  of  apology,  —  that  this  should  have 
fallen  into  the  sacred  canon,  and  not  the  epistle  to  La- 
odicea,  is  curious  and  interesting  to  those  who  regard 
the  providence  of  God  in  the  canon  of  Scripture.  That 
little  writing  is  like  a  small,  firm  beach,  where  storms 
have  beaten,  but  have  left  it  pure  and  white.  It  is  the 
least  of  all  seeds  in  Paul's  Epistles.  It  is  a  curiosity  of 
inspiration,  a  solitary  idiom  in  a  language,  a  Stonehenge 
in  a  country,  a  warm  stream  in  the  sea ;  it  begins  with 


A    SOUTH-SIDE   VIEAY    OF    SLAVERY.  195 

loving  salutations,  ends  with  affectionate  Christian  mes 
sages,  and  sends  back  a  servant  to  his  master  and  to  a 
system  of  slavery  under  which  this  fugitive  could,  if  his 
master  required,  be  put  to  death.  Now,  he  who  argues 
from  this  that  he  has  an  unqualified  right  to  reclaim  his 
slave,  and  subject  him  to  just  such  treatment  as  he 
pleases,  is  as  much  at  fault  as  those  who  are  at  the 
other  extreme.  It  was  to  a  Philemon  that  Onesimus 
was  returned  ;  it  was  to  Abraham's  house  that  Hagar 
was  remanded.  While  the  abstract  principle  of  owner 
ship  is  defended  by  these  examples,  he  who  uses  them  to 
the  injury  of  a  fellow-being  will  find  that  God  has  stores 
of  vengeance  for  him,  and  that  his  own  "Master  in 
heaven "  is  the  inexorable  Judge. 

The  difference  in  the  Apostles'  way  of  dealing  with 
slavery,  and  with  other  evils,  teaches  clearly  that  the 
relation  itself  is  not  in  their  view  sinful.  Many  insist 
that  it  is  sinful,  that  the  Apostles  must  so  have  regarded 
it,  and  that  the  reason  why  they  did  not  attack  it  is,  they 
would  not  interfere  with  the  laws  and  government.  It 
is  said  "  they  girdled  slavery,  and  left  it  to  die." 

But  this  surely  is  not  in  accordance  with  the  apostolic 
spirit.  There  is  no  public  wickedness  which  they  mere 
ly  girdled  and  left  to  die.  Paul  did  not  quietly  pass  his 
axe  round  the  public  sins  of  his  day.  His  divine  Mas 
ter  did  not  so  deal  with  adultery  and  divorces.  James 
did  not  girdle  wars  and  fightings,  governmental  measures. 
Let  Jude  be  questioned  on  this  point,  with  that  thunder 
bolt  of  an  Epistle  in  his  hand.  Even  the  beloved  dis 
ciple  disdained  this  gentle  method  of  dealing  with  pub 
lic  sins  when  he  prophesied  against  all  the  governments 
of  the  earth  at  once. 

But  slavery,  declared  by  some  to  be  the  greatest  sin 


196  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

:  against  God's  image  in  man,  most  fruitful,  it  is  said,  of 
evils,  is  not  assaulted,  but  the  sins  and  abuses  under  it  are 
i  reproved,  the  duties  pertaining  to  the  relation  of  master 
/  and  slave  are  prescribed,  a  slave  is  sent  back  to  servitude 
with  an  inspired  epistle  in  his  hand,  and  slavery  itself 
is  nowhere  assailed.     On  the  contrary,  masters  are  in 
structed  and  exhorted  with  regard  to  their  duties  as  slave 
holders  j    Suppose  the  instructions  which  are  addressed 
to  slaveholders  to  be  addressed  to  those  sinners  with 
whom  slaveholders  are  promiscuously  classed  by  many, 
for  example  :  "  Thieves,  render  to  those  from  whom  vou 
may  continue  to  steal,  that  which  is  just  and  equal."    "And, 
ye  murderers,  do  the  same  things  unto  your  victims, 
forbearing  threatening."     "  Let  as  many  as  are  cheated 
count  their  extortioners  worthy  of  all  honor."     If  to  be  a 
slave  owner  is  in  itself  parallel  with  stealing  and  other 
crimes,  miserable  subterfuge  to  say  that  Paul  did  not 
denounce  it  because  it  was  connected  with  the  institu 
tions  of  society ;  that  he  "  girdled  it,  and  left  it  to  die." 
I  Happy  they  whose  principles  with  regard   to    slavery 
1  enable  them  to  have  a  higher  opinion  of  Paul  than  thus 
I  to  make  him  a  timeserver  and  a  slave  to  expediency. 

But  was  he  therefore  "  a  proslavery  man  "  ?  Not  he. 
Would  he  have  spoken  against  the  system  of  American 
slavery  had  he  lived  in  our  day  ?  Surely  he  would  ; 
against  its  evils,  its  abuses,  its  sins,  but  not  against  the 
relation  of  master  and  slave.  Suppose  that  Philemon 
had  thrown  Onesimus  into  prison  for  absconding,  and 
Paul  had  heard  of  his  having  lain  there  three  months 
till  he  was  sick  with  jail  fever,  and  likely  to  die.  If  he 
could  have  reached  Philemon  through  church  discipline, 
and  the  offender  had  persisted  in  his  sin,  we  can  imagine 
Paul  directing  the  church  "in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesu^ 


A    SOUTH-SIDE     VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  197 

to  deliver  such  an  one  to  Satan  for  the  destruction  of  the 
flesh,  that  the  spirit  may  be  saved  in  the  day  of  the  Lord 
Jesus."  Any  church  that  suffers  a  member  to  deal 
wrongfully  with  his  servant,  or  suffers  a  slave  member, 
to  be  recklessly  sold,  has  in  Paul's  epistles  single  words 
and  whole  sentences  which  ought  to  make  it  quail.  Yet 
there  is  not  a  word  there  against  the  relation  of  master 
and  slave  ;  and  for  what  reason  ? 

The  way  in  which  the  Apostles  evidently  purposed   \ 
to  remove  slavery,  was  by  creating  a  state  of  tilings  in    ! 
which  it  would  cease.     This  method  is  not  analogous  to 
girdling  trees,  but  to  another  process  resorted  to  by  hus 
bandmen.      Their   only    method    of    expelling    certain 
weeds  —  sorrel,  for  example  —  is,    to    enrich  the    soil. 
The  gospel  is  to  slavery  what  the  growing  of  clover  is 
to  sorrel.     Religion  in  the  masters  destroys  every  thing 
in  slavery  which  makes  it  obnoxious;  and  not  only  so,|  j 
it  converts  the  relation  of  the   slave  into  an  effectual',  I 
means  of  happiness.     In  many  instances   at  the  south, 
for  example,  slavery  is  no  more  slavery  so  long  as  those 
masters   live ;  and   if  religion   were    every  where   pre 
dominant,  their  servants  would  not  suffer  by  the  death 
of  their   masters  any  more   than  by  time   and   chance, 
which  happen  to  all.     Religion  will  never  remove  men's 
need  of  being  served  and  of  serving  ;  but  it  will  make 
service  an  honorable  and  happy  employment,  under  what-  ' 
ever  name  it  may  pass.     And  as  farmers  do  not  attack  j 
weeds  for  the  mere  sake  of  expelling  them,  but  to  use) 
their  place  for  something  better,  so  the  New  Testament 
does  not  attack  slavery  to  drive  it  out,  but  gets  possess 
sion  of  the  heart,  which  is  naturally  tyrannical  and  covi  j 
etous,   and,  tilling  it  with   the  fruits  of  the    Spirit,  thqj 
works  of  the  flesh  disappear. 


198  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVEKY. 

When  a  man  repents  and  is  converted,  he  does  not 
repent  of  his  sins  one  by  one,  but  there  is  a  state  of  heart 
created  within  him,  with  regard  to  all  sin,  which  constitutes 
repentance.  In  accordance  with  this  we  do  not  find  the 
Bible  laboring  merely  to  make  a  man  specifically  peni 
tent,  but  it  uses  one  sin  and  another  to  lead  the  man  back 
to  that  heart  which  is  the  root  of  all  his  sins.  Those  who 
preach  to  convicts  tell  us  that  when  they  are  convinced 
of  sin,  if  they  fix  their  thoughts  upon  particular  trans 
gressions,  and  make  them  the  special  subjects  of  repent 
ance,  one  'of  two  things  happens  ;  they  either  see  the 
whole  of  their  sin  and  misery  by  means  of  these  in 
stances  of  wickedness,  or  they  confine  their  thoughts  to 
these  items,  and  then  become  superficial  and  self-righteous. 
David's  sin,  as  we  see  by  the  fifty-first  Psalm,  led  him  to 
feel  and  deplore  his  ruined  nature.  Many  attempts  to 
reform  particular  evils  in  society  which  grow  out  of  hu 
man  wickedness  have  no  effect  to  make  men  true  peni 
tents,  though  reformations  of  morals  and  of  abuses  are  al 
ways  auxiliary  to  religion ;  but  if  an  equal  amount  of  zeal 
employed  in  assailing  abuses  were  employed  in  promot 
ing  Christian  piety  and  charity  by  diffusing  Christian 
knowledge  and  ordinances,  and  also  by  the  influence  of 
a  good  temper  and  spirit,  especially  where  Christian  men 
are  the  objects  of  our  zeal,  and  their  cooperation  and 
influence  are  our  surest  means  of  success,  we  should  see 
changes  in  society  brought  about  in  a  healthful  way, 
which  would  be  permanent  because  of  the  basis  of  char 
acter  on  which  they  would  rest.  But  all  this  antifebrile 
sentiment  is  scorned  by  overheated  zealots.  Still  there 
is  sound  discretion  in  these  words  of  Dr.  Chalmers :  — 

"  I  have  been  a  projector  in  my  day,  and,  much  as  I  have 
been  employed  with  the  economics  of  society,  my  convic 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  199 

tion  is  more  and  more  strengthened  in  the  utter  vanity  of 
all  expedients  short  of  faith  in  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ; 
whose  disciples  are  the  salt  of  the  earth,  and  through  whose 
spirit  utility  and  religion,  alone,  we  can  look  for  the  perma 
nent  civilization  and  comfort  of  the  species,  or  even  for 
earthly  blessings;  which  come  after,  and  not  before,  the 
kingdom  of  God  and  his  righteousness."  * 


The  apostolic  spirit  with  regard  to  slavery,  surely,  is 
not  of  the  same  tone  with  the  spirit  whicjh  encourages 
slaves  every  where  to  rlee  from  their  masters,  and  teaches 
them  that  his  swiftest  horse,  his  boat,  his  purse,  are  theirs, 
if  they  wish  to  escape.  Philemon,  traveling  with  Ones- 
imus,  was  not  annoyed  by  a  vigilance  committee  of  Paul's 
Christian  friends  with  a  habeas  corpus  to  rescue  the  ser 
vant  from  his  master;  nor  did  these  friends  watch  the 
arrival  of  ships  to  receive  a  fugitive  consigned  by  "  the 
saints  and  faithful  brethren  which  were  at  Colosse"  to  the 
"  friends  of  the  slave  "  at  Corinth.  True,  these  disci 
ples  had  not  enjoyed  the  light  which  the  Declaration  of 
American  Independence  sheds  on  the  subject  of  human 
rights.  Moses,  Paul,  and  Christ  were  their  authorities 
on  moral  subjects;  but  our  infidels  tell  us  that  we  should 
have  a  far  different  New  Testament  could  it  be  writ 
ten  for  us  now ;  but  since  wre  can  not  have  a  new  Bible 
now  and  then,  this  proves  that  "  God  can  not  make  a 
revelation  to  us  in  a  book."  Every  man,  they  say,  must 
decide  as  to  his  duty  by  the  light  of  present  circumstances, 
not  by  a  book  written  eighteen  hundred  years  ago.  Zeal 
against  American  slavery  has  thus  been  one  of  the  chief 
modern  foes  to  the  Bible.  Let  him  who  would  not  be 
come  an  infidel  and  atheist  beware  and  not  follow  his  1 
sensibilities,  as  affected  by  cases  of  distress,  in  preference  I 

*  Sab.  Headings,  Deut.  xxxiv. 


200  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

to  the  word  of  God,  which  the  unhappy  fate  of  some 
who  have  made  shipwreck  of  their  faith  in  their  zeal 
against  slavery  shows  to  be  the  best  guide. 

I  may  be  allowed  to  state  the  manner  in  which  my 
own  mind  was  relieved  at  the  south  with  regard  to  the 
prospects  of  slavery.  From  youth,  I  had  believed  that 
its  removal  is  essential  to  our  continued  existence  as  a 
nation,  and  yet  no  one  saw  in  what  way  this  change 
was  to  be  effected.  My  error  was  in  supposing  that  the 
blacks  must  be  removed  in  order  to  remove  slavery,  or, 
that  they  must  be  emancipated  ;  that  we  must  have  some 
"  first  of  August"  to  mark  a  general  manumission.  Now 
there  are  many  slaveholders  at  the  south  who  make 
the  condition  of  their  slaves  as  comfortable  and  happy 
as  the  condition  of  the  same  persons  could  be  in  any  eir-  _ 
cumstances.  Wicked  men  are  permitted  by  the  present 
Iaws~~~ttr- practise  iniquity  and  oppression ;  but  when 
the  influence  of  good  men  so  far  prevails  as  to  make 
laws  which  will  restrain  and  govern  those  who  are 
susceptible  to  no  influence  but  that  of  authority,  the 
form  of  slavery  will  be  all  pertaining  to  it  which  will 
remain,  and  this  only  while  it  is  for  the  highest  good 
of  all  concerned,  and  acknowledged  to  be  so  by  both 
parties,  the  doom  of  the  blacks,  as  a  race,  being  aban 
doned,  and  the  interests  of  each  individual,  his  inclina 
tion  and  aptitude,  being  regarded  in  finding  employ 
ment  for  him.  I  saw  that  if  good  men  at  the  south 
were  left  to  themselves  without  annoyance  by  foreign  in- 
Atervention,  the  spirit  of  the  New  Testament  with  regard  - 
*o  slavery  might  ere  long  be  fulfilled.  Nor  would  t}*^ 
Old  Testament  jubilee,  or  seventh  year  release,  be 
necessary ;  these,  like  other  things  in  Moses,  being  done 
away  in  Christ  by  the  bestowal  of  liberty,  or  protection 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  201 

under  Christian  masters  ;  no  ceremonial,  therefore,  being 
needed  to  effect  or  announce  their  liberty,  and  jubilees 
and  seventh  years,  indeed,  not  coming  fast  enough,  and  \ 
being  too  formal  for  the  times.  Let  us  feel  and  act  frater-  \ 
nally  with  regard  to  the  south,  defend  them  against  inter 
ference,  abstain  from  every  thing  assuming  and  dictatorial, 
leave  them  to  manage  their  institution  in  view  of  their 
accountability  to  God,  and,  if  we  please,  in  view  of  the 
line  upon  line  and  precept  upon  precept  which  we,  their 
many  and  very  capable  instructors,  male  and  female, 
have  vouchsafed  to  them,  and  we  may  expect  that  Amer 
ican  slavery  will  cease  to  be  any  thing  but  a  means  of 
good  to  the  African  race.  When  no  longer  available 
for  good,  the  form  itself  will  be  abolished. 

Suppose  that  wre  should  receive  a  report  from  mission 
aries  giving  an  account  of  three  millions  of  people 
brought  out  of  heathenism  and  elevated  to  the  position 
of  the  slaves  in  our  Southern  States.  While  we  should 
join  with  the  missionaries  to  deplore  remaining  evils 
and  certain  liabilities  to  evil  among  them,  we  should  fill 
our  prayers  with  praises  at  the  marvelous  work  of  grace 
among  that  people.  And  were  the  foreign  lords  of  that 
people  generally  in  favor  of  their  improvement,  and 
very  many  of  them  examples  of  all  kindness  and  faith 
fulness,  we  should  be  careful  how  we  interfered  with  the 
leaven  which  was  leavening,  slowly,  but  surely,  the  whole 
mass  of  the  population.  Some,  however,  as  now,  would 
wish  to  precipitate  the  process. 

In  addition  to  what  has  been  said  of  the  way  in  which 
the  gospel  will  affect  slavery,  it  may  be  observed  that 
common  humanity,  self-interest,  and  law  may,  each  in 
its  own  method,  do  all  the  good  in  its  power,  without 
waiting  for  the  higher  motives  of  spiritual  religion. 


202  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

Nor  are  we  to  neglect  or  disparage  means  and  measures 
which  tend  to  good,  though  actuated  merely  by  considera 
tions  of  policy.  Yet  spiritual  religion  is  God's  chosen 
instrument  of  doing  the  greatest  amount  of  good  in  the 
best  possible  way.  It  puts  every  thing  at  work  for  its 
object ;  it  purifies  our  motives  ;  it  makes  the  result  per 
manent  ;  it  saves  men  from  the  temptations  incident  to 
victory  and  defeat. 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  203 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

FEELINGS   OF  SLAVES,  AND  FEELINGS  FOR   THE 
SLAVES,    CONTRASTED. 

THE  feelings  and  language  of  some  leading  opposers 
of  slavery  are  greatly  to  be  deplored  for  the  bad  effect 
which  they  have  upon  the  country  and  upon  the  best 
interests  of  the  slave.  No  one  can  be  at  the  south  for 
a  while  and  not  feel  that  the  spirit,  language,  and  meas 
ures  of  such  men  are  very  hurtful,  being  not  only  use 
less,  but  positively  frustrating  the  good  which  is  profess 
edly  sought. 

At  the  south,  after  reading  the  report  of  an  abolition 
meeting  in  New  York  in  May  last,  at  which  the  speak 
ers  seemed  to  be  in  throes  of  anguish  on  account  of 
slavery,  and  were  for  dissolving  the  Union,  declaring  also 
the  Christian  church  to  be  the  great  defender  of  the 
greatest  of  sins,  and  representing  the  house  of  bondage 
at  the  south  as  a  universal  mass  of  corruption  through 
festering  sins  and  wounds,  I  happened  to  attend  a  re 
ligious  meeting  of  slaves  on  the  Sabbath.  Their  pas 
tor,  a  white  man,  preached  a  sermon  to  them  on  the 
assurance  of  Christian  hope.  They  stood  up  to  sing. 
Such  was  the  evident  contrast  between  the  report  of 
the  meeting  in  New  York,  with  its  infidelity  and  almost 
blasphemy,  and  this  company  of  worshiping  slaves,  that 
it  seemed  to  me,  could  that  song  of  the  slaves  have 
broken  in  upon  the  abolition  meeting,  it  would  have 
been  to  it  almost  as  when  one  in  another  place  "  saw 


204  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

Abraham  afar  off  and  Lazarus  in  liis  bosom."  The 
pastor  from  the  pulpit  called  on  one  of  the  colored  men 
to  conclude  with  prayer.  lie  kneeled  before  a  seat  in 
the  aisle,  an  elderly  negro  with  a  gray  head,  and  seemed 
to  forget  that  there  was  any  ear  but  that  of  God  that 
listened  to  his  humble,  earnest  prayer.  Thus,  while 
some  are  burning  the  Constitution  and  pulling  down  the 
fabric  of  the  American  Union  to  rid  themselves  of  sla 
very,  the  great  plan  of  human  redemption,  as  it  respects 
the  African  race,  is  proceeding  noiselessly  at  the  south, 
and  there  is  joy  more  frequently  perhaps  in  the  pres 
ence  of  the  angels  of  God  over  a  penitent  sinner  there 
than  among  the  same  number  of  souls  in  any  part  of 
our  land.  One  of  the  best  of  men,  who  ministers  to  a 
church  having  on  its  list  twenty-seven  hundred  blacks, 
writes  to  me,  "  In  the  church  I  serve  there  are  some 
of  the  most  beautiful  specimens  of  Christian  character 
I  ever  saw.  Often  have  I  witnessed  the  calm,  intelli 
gent,  triumphant  death  bed,  and  have  said  in  my  soul,  I 
shall  not  be  fit  to  sit  at  the  feet  of  these  in  heaven.  I 
experience  from  them  great  affection,  and  regret  most 
deeply  that,  as  reputation  among  men  can  not  operate  as 
an  incentive  to  preparation,  I  have  not  a  more  simple 
love  to  Christ  and  souls  to  urge  me  to  diligence  in 
studying  for  the  pulpit." 

A  slave,  with  a  subdued,  touching  face,  stood  up  one 
evening  in  a  prayer  meeting  of  the  colored  people,  and 
broke  the  silence  by  repeating  two  lines  at  a  time  of  the 
hymn  beginning  thus  :  — 

"  How  sad  our  state  by  nature  is  ! 

Our  sin  how  deep  it  stains  ! 
And  Satan  binds  our  captive  minds 
Fast  in  his  slavish  chains. 

"  But  there's  a  voice  of  sovereign  grace,"  &c. 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  205 

It  would  seem  strange  to  many  that  a  slave  should 
feel  that  there  are  "  chains  "  more  to  be  deplored  than 
those  of  southern  slavery ;  but  they  would  find  in  the 
religious  meetings  of  the  colored  people  that  there  is 
a  bondage  which,  in  the  view  of  the  slaves,  would  more 
appropriately  be  the  subject  of  certain  conventions  which 
have  been  held,  than  American  slavery — a  bondage  which 
makes  infidel  opposers  of  slavery  proper  objects  of  com 
passion  and  subjects  of  prayer  with  the  slaves  as  they 
look  down  with  concern  from  their  religious  assemblies 
upon  those  unbelievers  who  meet  to  pity  them. 

Tens  of  thousands  among  them  feel  and  speak  as 
one  of  them  did  to  whom  in  conversation  I  ventured  to 
put  the  question  whether  he  would  like  to  be  free. 
Twisting  the  withes  of  old  grape  vines  around  the  ends 
of  rails  in  mending  a  fence,  he  thought  a  moment, 
turned  his  face  toward  me,  while  he  held  a  rail,  half 
tied,  in  its  place,  and  emphasizing  his  words  with  motions 
of  his  head,  he  replied,  each  word  being  deliberately 
separated  from  the  rest :  "  I  want  to  be  free  from  my 
sins  ;  them's  all  my  burden  ;  and  if  I  can  get  that,  the 
balance  of  the  rest  may  go  from  me."  We  were  in  the 
woods  alone ;  I  had  spoken  of  heaven  ;  he  feared  he 
should  "  never  see  that  happy  place  ;  "  I  spoke  of  par 
don  through  Christ ;  his  hopes  revived ;  he  promised 
that  he  would  look  to  Christ  alone  for  salvation,  and 
after  I  had  gone  from  him  some  way,  he  broke  out 
with  the  well-known  tune  of  Ortonville  :  — 

"  Majestic  sweetness  sits  enthroned 
Upon  the  Saviour's  brow." 

The    woods   were    filled    with    his    powerful   voice.     I 
thought  of  those  words,  which  can  seldom  be  quoted  at 


206  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

the  present  day  with  safety  to  one's  reputation  as  being 
"  right  on  the  subject  of  slavery,"  but  which  were  illus 
trated  in  him  —  "  Art  thou  called  being  a  servant  ? 
care  not  for  it."  Paul  evidently  was  not  so  much  dis 
tressed  in  his  mind  about  slavery  and  the  slaves,  as 
some  of  us  are  who  know  less  about  slavery  than  he, 
and  feel  far  less  than  he  what  it  is  to  be  "  called." 

We  frequently  hear  it  said,  referring  to  the  duty  of  re 
moving  slavery,  that  we  must  break  every  yoke.  Many 
who  say  this  reckon  that  in  the  United  States  there  are 
three  million  two  hundred  and  four  thousand  three  hun 
dred  and  thirteen  "  yokes,"  this  being  the  number  of 
slaves. 

Now,  you  can  not  pass  through  the  south  and  not  see 
that  a  very  large  number  may  at  once  be  struck  from 
this  reckoning  of  yokes  ;  that  there  are  very  many  slaves 
who,  if  you  should  propose  to  break  a  "  yoke  "  for  them, 
would  not  understand  you.  The  question  is  not  as  to 
enslaving  a  new  people  ;  nor  does  it  relate  to  the  An 
tilles,  nor  to  Guiana,  nor  to  Mexico ;  it  relates  to  these 
people  who  are  here ;  and  the  proper  question  is  not  an 
abstract  one  with  regard  to  slavery,  but  what  is  best  for 
this  people  in  their  circumstances.  The  troubles  which 
we  impute  to  their  condition  are  many  of  them  like  the 
most  of  our  own,  viz.,  "  borrowed  troubles  ; "  we  make 
them  in  our  thoughts  bear  the  burdens  of  all  the  possi 
ble  evils  which  theoretically  belong  to  the  system  of 
slavery.  Even  if  we  take  all  these  into  view,  the  amount 
of  happiness  among  them  compares  favorably  with  that 
among  the  same  number  of  people  elsewhere.  If  there 
are  some  evils  to  which  they  are  exposed,  there  are 
others  from  which  they  are  exempt.  The  feeling  in 
voluntarily  arose  within  me  at  the  south,  and  especially 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  207 

in  the  religious  meetings  of  the  slaves,  Would  that 
all  Africa  were  here  !  Could  villages  and  tribes  of 
Africans  be  by  any  means  induced  to  emigrate  to  this 
land,  and  be  placed  under  the  influences  which  the 
slaves  enjoy,  Ethiopia  would  stretch  out  her  hands  to  God 
sooner  than  the  most  sanguine  interpreters  of  prophecy 
now  dare  to  hope.  It  is  deeply  affecting  to  hear 
the  slaves  give  thanks  in  their  prayers  that  they  have 
not  been  left  like  the  heathen  who  know  not  God, 
but  are  raised,  as  it  were,  to  heaven  in  their  Christian 
privileges. 

14 


208  A  SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

CHEERFUL  VIEWS.  —  CONCLUSION. 

"WE  ought  to  be  the  happiest  people  on  earth.  The 
strongest  mutual  affection  should  exist  between  the  dif 
ferent  parts  of  a  country  constituted  as  we  are.  Our 
family  of  States,  so  many  sovereignties  governing  them 
selves,  yet  consenting  to  be  governed,  like  constellations, 
each  with  its  own  order  and  laws,  but  all  obeying  one 
great  rule,  suggesting,  as  organized  communities,  more 
than  any  other  nation,  the  divine  pattern  of  the  tribes 
in  the  Hebrew  commonwealth ;  our  heroic  origin  sur 
passing  even  the  fabulous  romantic  beginnings  of  other 
nations,  but  superior  to  them  in  its  pious  and  benevolent 
motives  ;  the  names  of  our  States  holding  charmed  asso 
ciations  of  adventure  and  exploit,  the  Indian  relics, 
shrined  in  the  names,  growing  more  and  more  interest 
ing  with  age  ;  our  enthusiastic  union  in  times  of  peril ; 
the  reception,  one  by  one,  of  new  members  into  the  house 
hold,  and  thereupon  one  star  after  another  quietly  taking 
its  place  in  the  field  of  our  flag ;  the  beautiful  respect 
paid  to  the  humblest  member  of  the  family  by  her 
equality  of  representation  in  the  Senate  with  the  proud 
est  State ;  our  territory  compassed  overhead  by  such  a 
zone  and  around  by  oceans,  yet  the  sea  shores  exceeded 
by  the  coasts  of  navigable  inland  lakes ;  our  rivers  ;  our 
soil  adapted  to  almost  every  culture  ;  the  absence  of 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  209 

social  disabilities,  and  the  political  equality  of  the  citi 
zens  ;  our  freedom  of  faith  and  speech ;  our  rulers 
chosen  by  the  people  ;  our  ability  to  receive  and  pro 
tect  the  oppressed  of  other  lands ;  our  schools,  our  Sab 
bath,  our  vigorous  manhood,  reached  at  the  period  of 
the  world's  history  when  we  can  be  preeminently  useful 
by  our  example  and  influence,  —  bring  together  more 
elements  of  happiness  for  a  nation  than  are  elsewhere 
found. 

It  might  well  be  said  to  us,  "Beloved,  if  God  so 
loved  us.  we  ought  also  to  love  one  another." 

The  providence  of  God,  as  it  shall  unfold  with  regard 
to  the  African  race,  will  no  doubt  greatly  affect  our 
hearts.  We  are  apprehending  trouble  and  sorrow  on 
account  of  this  people.  In  the  abyss  of  the  future  we 
hear  such  confused  noises  as  might  have  been  heard  in 
the  sounding  deep  of  chaos,  when  mountains  and  seas 
were  jostling  into  their  places.  Order  was  asserting  her 
sway,  and  at  the  present  time,  while  "  chains  and  sla 
very"  fill  the  ears  and  appall  the  hearts  of  many,  some 
great  development  of  providence  with  regard  to  the  Afri 
can  race  may  be  approaching.  Let  us  settle  this  in  our 
minds,  that  progress  and  improvement  are  to  be  the  rule 
of  human  destiny,  and  let  us  have  patience  one  with 
another.  Never,  we  are  constrained  to  think,  could 
slavery  have  existed  so  long  amidst  such  influences  of 
Christianity  as  prevail  in  this  country,  and  such  efforts 
of  the  southern  people  themselves  to  abolish  it,  were  it 
not  that  God  intends  to  use  us  as  the  chief  instruments 
of  good  to  the  African  race.  Therefore  he  has  suffered 
us  to  be  greatly  afflicted  on  account  of  them ;  and  now 
he  may  be  leading  us  to  the  brink  of  ruin  by  our  con 
nection  with  this  people,  to  show  us  that  we  must  unite 


210  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

to  redeem  and  bless  them,  if  it  be  only  for  our  own  pres 
ervation.  Their  increase  has  averaged  in  each  ten 
years  four  or  five  per  centum  more  than  that  of  the 
whites.  Had  it  not  been  for  the  foreign  immigration 
of  white  persons,  they  would  have  been  in  1850  nearer 
to  an  equality  with  the  whites  by  three  hundred  and 
fifty  or  four  hundred,  thousand.  The  time  must  come 
when  the  slaves  will  outnumber  the  whites  in  some  dis 
tricts  of  the  country.  A  leader  only  will  be  necessary 
to  place  them  in  a  position  in  which  they  can  make  their 
own  terms  with  us.  Surely  we  are  bound  by  sentiments 
of  common  human  brotherhood,  not  to  say  by  ties  of 
country,  to  look  upon  the  south  not  as  an  enemy,  but  as 
one  whom  we  would  invite  and  encourage  to  lead  our 
efforts  in  union  with  theirs  in  behalf  of  this  people.* 

We  turn  to  our  southern  brethren  and  friends,  there 
fore,  and  with  no  obtrusive  zeal  we  beg  them  to  let  us 
stand  related  to  them,  and  to  this  subject,  as  their 
friends  and  brethren ;  not  repelling  us,  but  encouraging 
every  sign  of  desire  to  promote  a  good  understanding. 
Let  us  together  wait  and  hope  till  Providence  discloses 
ways  of  doing  good  to  the  African  race,  in  which  we 
shall  have  been  prepared  to  cooperate  by  a  previous 
cultivation  of  mutual  good  feelings.  God  will  not  leave 
us  always  to  contend  together.  "The  north  and  the 
south,  thou  hast  created  them ;  Tabor  and  Hernion  shall 
rejoice  in  thy  name." 

A  young  missionary  from  the  south  was  embarking 
for  Africa.  His  mother  was  taking  leave  of  him ;  her 

*  See  some  valuable  statistics  with  regard  to  the  blacks  in  this 
country,  in  several  articles  in  the  Boston  Courier,  ending  March  2, 
1853,  understood  to  be  from  the  pen  of  Dr.  J.  Chickering. 


A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  211 

arms  were  round  his  neck.  She  cried,  "  0  Granville, 
Granville,  my  dear  son,  how  can  I  give  you  up  !  "  The 
son,  without  embracing  his  mother,  stood,  and  lifted  his 
arms  above  her,  and  stretched  them  out  beyond  her,  and 
cried,  louder  than  his  mother,  "  O  Africa,  Africa,  how- 
can  I  give  you  up  !  "  At  foreign  missionary  meetings  in 
the  Southern  States  I  noticed  that  African  missions  in 
terested  the  people  most  deeply.  The  south  is  best 
qualified  to  lead  the  whole  country  in  plans  and  efforts 
for  the  African  race.  We  will  follow  her. 

In  the  first  part  of  this  book  I  have  spoken  of  a  choir 
whose  performances  were  not  so  cultivated  as  edifying ; 
but  there  was  one  occasion,  when,  in  listening  to  the  per 
formances  of  a  colored  choir  on  the  Sabbath,  it  is  no 
exaggeration  to  say  that  I  enjoyed  more  than  in  the  per 
formance  of  sacred  music  at  any  time  by  any  other  choir, 
such  was  the  perfect  time,  accentuation,  judicious  stress, 
varied  movement,  and  just  conception  of  the  sentiments 
of  the  hymns  sung  by  fifteen  voices  of  remarkable  va 
riety.  One  development  of  African  talent  hereafter 
will  no  doubt  be  in  music.  Even  now  we  have  illus 
trations  of  the  power  which  some  of  their  popular  airs 
have  over  the  common  mind  in  whistling  boys,  and 
military  bands,  and  the  merry  making  parlor  music. 
The  colored  people  will  give  us  music  of  a  natural 
order,  full  of  genuine  feeling,  opening  its  way  directly 
to  the  general  heart.  Their  voices  probably  surpass  all 
voices  known  to  us  in  sweetness,  compass,  and  power ; 
male  tenor  voices,  so  rare  among  us,  abound  among  them  ; 
large  additions  to  human  happiness  await  us  from  this 
source,  under  proper  cultivation.  In  the  choir  now  al 
luded  to  there  was  a  man  whose  voice  was  like  a  reed 


212  A    SOUTH-SIDE    VIEW    OF    SLAVERY. 

instrument ;  and  in  other  choirs  and  meetings  no  such 
vocal  phenomena  have  ever  occurred  to  me  as  among 
the  blacks.  This  choir  sung  a  hymn,  a  voluntary  per 
formance,  at  the  opening  of  public  worship,  which  in  the 
state  of  mind  with  which  I  was  thinking  of  the  slaves, 
seemed  as  though  I  was  hearing  it  sung  to  them  by 
those  who  sung  over  Bethlehem  at  the  nativity.  That 
slaves,  —  though  a  few  of  this  choir  were  free,  —  that 
these  representatives  of  Africa,  should  sing  this  hymn 
with  perfect  skill  and  deep  feeling,  seemed  beautifully 
prophetic.  The  tune  was  u  Marton,"  in  Cantica  Lau- 
dis:  — 

"  On  the  mountain  top  appearing, 

Lo,  the  sacred  herald  stands, 
Joyful  news  to  Zion  bearing, 
Zion  long  in  captive  lands. 

Mourning  captive  ! 
God  himself  will  loose  thy  bands. 

"  Lo,  thy  sun  is  risen  in  glory  ; 

God  himself  appears  thy  friend  ; 
All  thy  foes  shall  flee  before  thee ; 
Here  their  boasted  triumphs  end. 

Great  deliverance  ! 
Zion's  King  vouchsafes  to  send. 

"  Enemies  no  more  shall  trouble  ; 

All  thy  wrongs  shall  be  redressed  ; 
For  thy  shame  thou  shalt  have  double, 
In  thy  Maker's  favor  blest. 

All  thy  conflicts 
End  in  an  eternal  rest." 

Those  who  wait  for  the  consolation  of  Africa,  and  who 
love  to  sing,  can  make  this  hymn  and  tune  keep  fresh 
their  best  affections  for  that  people,  and  help  their  peti 
tions  for  the  approach  of  the  time  when  "  for  their  shame 


A    SOUTH-SIDE   VIEW    OF    SLAVERY.  213 

they  shall  have  double,  and  for  confusion  they  shall 
rejoice  in  their  portion." 

If  the  nations  of  the  earth  celebrate  in  heaven  their 
national  experiences  under  the  providence  and  grace  of 
God,  Africa's  song  will  probably  do  as  much  as  any  to 
illustrate  them.  But  who  will  write  Africa's  hymn  ? 
What  mysteries  of  providence  and  grace,  what  remem 
brances  of  woe,  what  corresponding  heights  of  joy  and 
bliss,  what  forgiveness  and  love,  what  adoration,  what 
sweet  affections  born  of  chastisement,  what  appreciation 
of  heaven,  with  its  liberty,  and  equality,  and  recompense 
of  patient  suffering,  will  that  hymn  contain,  and  with 
what  voices  will  it  be  sung !  No  man  can  learn  that 
song,  no  man  can  write  it,  but  some  African  slave.  We 
from  America  shall  listen  to  that  song  with  feelings  unlike 
those  of  any  other  nation. 

If  there  were  truth  in  the  fancy  that  angels  are  per 
mitted  to  invent  flowers,  he  must  have  been  the  most 
original,  and  the  most  to  be  wondered  at,  who  invented 
the  cactus,  the  rough,  misshapen  thing,  which  puts  forth 
a  flower  surpassed  by  nothing  in  the  kingdom  of  nature. 
As  though  to  vex  and  repel  for  a  time,  and  then  to  as 
tonish,  and  to  secure  the  love  and  care  of  woman ;  as 
though  it  were  a  hieroglyphic,  coarse  in  its  engraving 
and  exquisite  in  its  sense ;  an  emblem  of  God's  afflictions 
and  their  fruits  in  those  whom  he  loves  ;  a  promise  vege 
tating  ;  faith,  having  no  sight ;  hope,  with  the  reward  of 
patience  concealed  in  it,  —  this  cactus  always  impressed 
me  more  than  any  other  plant.  When,  at  the  south,  I 
spent  a  morning  in  a  burying  ground  of  the  colored 
people,  reading  the  simple,  touching  inscriptions,  — 

"  Their  names,  their  years,  spelt  by  the  unlettered  muse,"  — 


214  A   SOUTH-SIDE   VIEW    OF   SLAVERY. 

and  saw,  all  about  in  the  grass,  the  prickly  pear,  embryo 
cactuses,  gathering  round  the  graves  of  the  slaves,  I  felt 
no  need  of  one  to  interpret  for  me.  The  deep  murmur 
in  the  tops  of  the  pines  overhead,  with  the  birds  singing 
in  the  branches,  comported  well  with  the  discovery  of 
this  token  of  present,  thorny  sorrow,  this  emblem  of 
Africa  in  her  past  history  and  her  coming  beauty,  and 
in  the  love  which  she  is  to  win  from  all  hearts. 


THE   END. 


r  / 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 
Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


DEC  11 1995 





iiOV- 


19%£p 


?  2  1995 


c/i?cu 


13  196846 





t*E& 


r. 


M 


LD  21A-60m-2.'67 

(H241slO)476B 


TT   .  General  Library 
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